Unai Emery is hoping Aston Villa can breathe new life into their season when they begin their Champions League campaign against Club Brugge on Tuesday. 

Villa have yet to win any of their opening three Premier League games, losing to Brighton and Arsenal before playing out a goalless draw with Hull City last weekend. 

They are just the second side to fail to score in each of their first three games in consecutive top-flight seasons (first four in 2025-26) after Ipswich Town in 1969-70 and 1970-71.

But all eyes are on the Jan Breydelstadion as Emery's side make their return to the Champions League after qualifying for the competition following their Europa League triumph.

The Villans have won 67% of their Champions League matches under Emery (8/12). This is the second-highest win percentage for a manager with 10+ games in charge of an English side, only behind Liverpool under their former boss, Arne Slot (68% - 15/22).

All three of the meetings between these two teams came in Villa's most recent Champions League campaign (2024-25). Brugge won their league phase meeting in that campaign (1-0), but lost both legs in the round of 16 (1-3 at home, 0-3 away).

Emery believes his side are slowly beginning to turn the tide, but he acknowledged the threat Brugge pose his team, highlighting their recent meetings with them in Europe.

"I think in the last match we showed some improvements," Emery said. "We started [with] the Premier League as our objective at the end of the season, and we are progressing.

"It is still not enough, because we are not getting good results, but tomorrow is a new test, and a new test in Europe. 

"We have played them three times over the past two years and they showed us their quality. Different coaches, different players, some players are the same. 

"It's similar for us – a new team, new players. We must play with focus, respect, try [to] compete, and try to get to our best collectively."

This will be Emery's ninth Champions League campaign, with Villa being the third club he has managed in multiple editions, after Valencia (2010-11 and 2011-12) and Paris Saint-Germain (2016-17 and 2017-18).

He has reached at least the quarter-finals in each of his last two campaigns in the competition (semi-finals in 2021-22, quarter-finals in 2024-25), though his team looks rather different to the one that last played in the Champions League. 

Of the 22 goals that were scored by Villa players in the 2024-25 Champions League, only 32% of them were netted by players who are still currently at the club (seven), with the likes of Ollie Watkins, Youri Tielemans and Morgan Rogers just some of those who have departed. 

Emery has welcomed 11 new faces through the doors at Villa Park, but not all of them have made an appearance, with the Spaniard providing an update on his squad.

Leon Goretzka will have to wait until after the international break to make his Villa debut after suffering a knee injury, while Johan Manzambi will miss the game as he continues to recover from a similar issue, though Emery said the Switzerland international is progressing well.

"The injured players, for me, are something normal," Emery added. "Every player is the same, and when we are closing the squad with two players for each position, with some young players trying to use their potential more and more, like George, performing very well.

"Other players can have some injuries, and we must be ready to replace them.

"Goretzka's injury and his problems are a little bit frustrating, but we have players to replace him, like Ross Barkley, like Joao Gomes, Lamare Bogarde and Kamara."