EUROPA DA DAH DA DAHHHHH! (Or something like that)
What a night in Europe’s third-best competition (Champions League > Eurovision > Europa League).
So many bad things happened to teams we are in direct rivalry with. Let’s go through them.

ASTON VILLA BOTCHED THE MISSION
I was double-screening so don’t have a serious tactical analysis of the game (like I ever do), but the game was going the way of Unai Emery. Martinez had to make 3-4 one-on-one saves in the first half. Villa took a 2-0 lead, and Lille had a marginal call flagged offside by VAR. It was looking like the game was done… then it wasn’t. Lille pulled a goal back late on and narrowed the Villa lead to a much easier target.
Lille is 4th in Ligue 1. They beat Marseille at the weekend, and they boast a 71% win ratio at home this season. What does that mean for Arsenal" Well, Unai Emery has a big conundrum on his hands.

Lille has no game this weekend. That’s time to rest, recuperate, and tactically prepare for the home leg
Unai Emery has a very weak bench to choose from if his key players get injured.
Italy is all but assured of an extra Champions League spot for the 2024/25 season with a coefficient ranking of 18.428. As for 2nd place, Germany (16.785) moved past England (16.750). Unai cannot rely on other teams pushing the coefficient to the level he needs to get the 5th Champions League spot. He has to rely on Villa to rack up the points.

I read some people in the L...