Unai Emery thanks Aston Villa fans for their part in 'perfect night'

The Spaniard masterminded the best result of his remarkable tenure to date as Villa repeated the scoreline from the 1982 European Cup final by beating the Bavarian giants, announcing their arrival in the Champions League in stunning fashion.

Wednesday was Villa’s first home match back in Europe’s elite club competition for 41 years and Emery posted a rare message on social media in the early hours of yesterday morning to express his emotions.

The Villa boss wrote: “Too many feelings inside but I can explain in one word what happened last night….PERFECT!

“Prince William, Wes and Nassef, my great players, the coaching staff, the management and staff, the 82 heroes, the media…the whole club having a beautiful night.

“Tomorrow back to work with energy and recharged.

“BUT tonight…I just came back to social media to say from the heart: Thank you to every Villa fan.

“We know your sacrifices, personal effort, how much you must work to be able to come to VP or watch us on TV.

“I hope you enjoy as much as you deserve. See you and we need you fresh on Sunday. UP THE VILLA!”

Jhon Duran scored the only goal as Villa made it two wins from two in the Champions League, following up last month’s opening day 3-0 victory over Young Boys in Switzerland.

They sit sixth in the 36-team league phase table and given themselves a strong foundation to target a top-eight finish, which would see them qualify automatically for the last-16.

“The objective is to get into the next round,” said Emery. “One is to get into the top eight, and if not you have to play in the play-off.

“We are not refusing two ways. The first one is to get to the next round and in the case we can compete for the top eight is to get to the top-eight."