Aston Villa have been drawn in Group E in the Europa Conference League, and will face AZ Alkmaar, Legia Warszawa and HSK Zrinjski.
Unai Emery’s side defeated Hibernian in our play-off round tie 8-0 on aggregate, and in turn booked our place in the group stage having finished seventh in the Premier League last season.
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Given the Villa boss’s previous experience and success in European competition, there is a significant amount of excitement about our journey this year, and it’s hoped that it concludes with silverware in Athens next May.
However, the more immediate priority is to qualify for the knockout stage, and in order to do so, we’ll have to get the better of some tricky opposition, led by AZ Alkmaar who were top seeded in the draw.
The Dutch side reached the semi-finals of this competition last season, while Legia finished as runners-up in Poland and Zrinjski were crowned champions in the Bosnia and Herzegovina top flight in the previous campaign.
