John McGinn issues warning to Aston Villa's Champions League rivals

Villa announced their return to Europe's elite competition on Tuesday evening - with a comfortable 3-0 win over Young Boys in their opening league phase match.

Their first Champions League tie on home soil will come on October 2 - as they welcome Bayern Munich to Villa Park in a re-run of their famous victory in the 1982 final.

Clashes with Bologna, Club Brugge, Juventus, RB Leipzig, Monaco and Celtic will follow before the knockout stage in early 2025.

Despite the fact Villa have been absent from the top European competition, skipper McGinn believes their ability to attract Champions League players underlines why they are a force to be recognised.

And he warned that if teams don't do their homework - then they could unstuck against Unai Emery's men.

He told The Mirror: "In Europe, I know we had our good moments but we did fail in the end. When you go away with your national teams we have got a lot of players who represent the best countries in Europe.

“So, teams on the continent know the best players, they’re aware of the good the manager is. They’re aware of how good we are and how much we could achieve.

“The club is becoming more attractive to the best players. Like Ian Maatsen, he was in the Champions League final last season. He decided this is club that could potentially do the same. We’re attracting players from international teams that are well-known around Europe. If we are not already recognised, we’re trying to develop that reputation.

“But if teams don’t study us in depth I think our system could cause them problems. They’ll get a surprise. For us, being a Pot Four team, technically, we’re going in as the underdogs but I’m sure we’ll go into games evenly-matched and we’ll give any of them a run for their money.”