Aston Villa embraces long-awaited Champions League home game when Bayern Munich pays a visit

It's been 41 years since Aston Villa last hosted European club soccer's elite competition.

On Wednesday, that wait ends when it faces Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

"I didn't think I'd see it again. It's fantastic,” Villa fan Stephen Morley, 63, told The Associated Press.

The last time Villa played a home match in the European Cup — as it was then known — was as the defending champion in 1983. In recent years Villa's place in the top flight of English soccer — let alone the Champions League — has been far from guaranteed.

As recently as 2019 the seven-time English champion was playing in the second division as part of a three-year stint out of the Premier League. And in 2022, it looked in danger of being relegated again until the hiring of Unai Emery transformed the club's fortunes and got fans believing anything is possible again.

“It’s been a long time since Champions League nights at Villa Park — everyone is excited and looking forward to it,” striker Ollie Watkins said Tuesday. "Playing Champions League football for Villa is the best it can get really.”

These are heady times for a club that last challenged for the domestic title in the 92-93 campaign and was last champion in 1981, which provided its route into the European Cup.

Back then the competition was a straight knockout format between the champions of each country and the reigning European Cup holders.

Against the odds Villa, which had seen its title-winning manager Ron Saunders leave the club part-way through the campaign, beat the then-three-time winner Bayern 1-0 in the final in Rotterdam.

Lifelong fan Morley was 21 at the time and among around 13,000 Villa supporters to make the journey from England to the Netherlands. He traveled by bus and ferry, remembers Rotterdam in May feeling “like a sauna” and the unbridled celebrations that greeted Peter Withe's winning goal.

“It was just crazy. We couldn’t believe it because you’re playing against a team of that caliber,” he said. “When you're 21 you don’t realize what an achievement it was and I don't think I really took in the achievement of the fact that we won the European Cup. It probably took a while for it to sink in."

The journey home was via Germany before returning to Birmingham where the streets around the city were lined with fans waiting for the victorious team's homecoming.

“I remember sitting in a little cafe at six in the morning, drinking,” said Morley. “The next day I went to Birmingham when they brought the cup back into the city center. It was a proper celebration.

“There’s six of us that went and there’s only three of us alive (now).”

Villa's last home game in the European Cup was against Juventus in 1983 — a 2-1 first-leg loss on its way to being knocked out in the quarterfinals.

Morley is still a season ticket-holder and will be at Villa Park again on Wednesday for the first game against Bayern since the final.

He credits Emery with club's spectacular turnaround.

"He’s without doubt the best coach we’ve ever had at Villa,” he said. “He’s just a tactical genius. He gets every answer.”

Villa was three points above the relegation zone when Emery was hired in October 2022. He guided the team to seventh that year and in his first full season led Villa to fourth, securing Champions League qualification.

To put that into context, Villa had finished 14th, 11th and 17th in the previous three years since being promoted back to the Premier League.

The momentum under Emery is continuing this season and only a 2-2 draw with Ipswich on Sunday stopped fifth-place Villa from moving up to second in the league.

“We’ve got a manager that we trust — he’s been there and experienced it all. He always has us focused on the next game and the task at hand,” Watkins said.

Emery previously coached Valencia, Spartak Moscow, Sevilla, Paris St-Germain and Villarreal in the Champions League.

His reputation in Europe, however, has been built on his performances in the second-tier Europa League, which he has won on four occasions: three times with Sevilla and once with Villarreal. He was also a beaten finalist in the competition with Arsenal.

He got Villa's Champions League campaign off to a winning start by beating Swiss club Young Boys 3-0 in its opening game earlier this month and wants to keep his team among Europe's elite.

“Hopefully we can play more times in the Champions League, but it’s the first match after a long time," he said. "We’re motivated and excited to play tomorrow with our supporters in Villa Park in this scenario, this match, remembering the final of the European Cup played against them 42 years ago.

“I want to play matches like this and I want to play consistently matches like this."

James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery attends a training session at Bodymoor Heath Training Centre, Birmingham, England, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. Aston Villa will face Bayern Munich in the Champions League opening phase soccer match on Wednesday. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)

Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins (centre left) during a training session at Bodymoor Heath Training Centre, England, Tuesday Oct. 1, 2024. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)

Aston Villa's Emi Buendia, left, and Ollie Watkins, centre, attend a training session at Bodymoor Heath Training Centre, Birmingham, England, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. Aston Villa will face Bayern Munich in the Champions League opening phase soccer match on Wednesday. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)

Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins attends a press conference at Bodymoor Heath Training Centre, Birmingham, England, Tuesday Oct. 1, 2024. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)

Bayern Munich's Harry Kane attends a training session ahead of Wednesday's Champions League opening phase soccer match against Aston Villa, in Munich, Germany, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (Sven Hoppe/dpa via AP)

Bayern Munich coach Vincent Kompany leads a training session ahead of Wednesday's Champions League opening phase soccer match against Aston Villa, in Munich, Germany, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (Sven Hoppe/dpa via AP)

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery during a press conference at Bodymoor Heath Training Centre, Birmingham, England, Tuesday Oct. 1, 2024. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)

An Israeli strike on a refugee camp in north Lebanon has killed Hamas official Saeed Atallah Ali and his family, the militant group said Saturday. Hamas later said another military wing member was killed in an Israeli strike in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley.

The strikes come a day after another Israeli airstrike cut off a main highway linking Lebanon with Syria, leaving two huge craters on either side of the road.

Israel began a ground incursion Tuesday into Lebanon against the Hezbollah militant group. The Israeli military said nine soldiers have died in the conflict in southern Lebanon.

Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire across the Lebanon border almost daily since the day after Hamas’ cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 Israelis and took 250 others hostage. Israel declared war on the Hamas militant group in the Gaza Strip in response. As the Israel-Hamas war reaches the one-year mark, more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory, and just over half the dead have been women and children, according to local health officials.

Nearly 2,000 people have been killed in Lebanon in the latest conflict, most of them since Sept. 23, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Here is the latest:

RIO DE JANEIRO — A plane chartered by the Brazilian Air Force has left Beirut for Brazil carrying 229 passengers including 10 infants.

Brazil’s foreign ministry said in a statement Saturday that three pets are also on the flight headed for Sao Paulo — Brazil’s first flight evacuating nationals from Lebanon. The ministry says it was supposed to leave Friday but was stalled due to security reasons.

It says a second flight is scheduled for next week, depending on security conditions on the ground.

Two Brazilian adolescents have been killed by Israeli bombardments in Lebanon, which is home to the largest community of Brazilians in the Middle East at around 21,000.

DAMASCUS, Syria — Iran’s foreign minister says some countries are making efforts to broker cease-fires in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.

Abbas Araghchi told reporters in Damascus that “we are trying to reach a cease-fire in Gaza and in Lebanon.”

The minister did not name the countries involved, describing them as regional states and some from outside the Middle East. He declined to provide details, saying the efforts are still “ideas.”

Araghchi says any proposal should be accepted by the Palestinian and Lebanese sides and once that happens Iran and Syria would back them.

He also reiterated that Iran will retaliate to any Israeli attack, warning it would be “stronger, and they can test our will.”

JERUSALEM — Rocket alert sirens have been blaring all day in northern Israel.

The Israeli military says some 90 projectiles have been fired Saturday from Lebanon into Israel.

Most were intercepted or fell in open areas, but several rockets fell in the northern Arab town of Deir al-Asad, where police said three people were lightly injured, and in the nearby city of Karmiel, damaging an apartment building.

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia — A Slovak government plane has landed in the capital Bratislava carrying 46 people who were evacuated from Lebanon.

The Slovak Foreign Ministry says another plane carrying 44 people is expected later Saturday.

The ministry says 34 Slovaks are among them, as well nationals from other European countries.

The Czech Foreign Ministry says 10 Czechs and three relatives with Lebanese passports will be on the second flight.

They were first evacuated from Beirut to Larnaca in Cyprus by military transport plane before traveling to Bratislava on the government plane.

BEIRUT — Hamas says one of its members was killed in an Israeli strike in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley.

The Palestinian militant group says Mohammed Lweis, who was a member of the group’s military wing the Qassam Brigade, was killed Saturday in an Israeli attack on the eastern Lebanese village of Fayda.

Hours earlier, Hamas announced the deaths of another member of its military wing, his wife and two daughters in a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon.

Over the past year, Israel has killed several Hamas officials in Lebanon.

BEIRUT — A Syrian opposition war monitor and pro-government media are reporting that an Israeli drone strike on a car in central Syria killed one person and wounded three.

It was not immediately clear who was the target of Saturday’s airstrike near the central city of Hama, which was reported by the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and pro-government Sham FM radio. They did not give further details.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. Israel regularly carries out airstrikes inside government-controlled parts of war-torn Syria but rarely acknowledges them. When it has, it says it targets Iranian-backed groups or Hezbollah weapons shipments.

BEIRUT — Nearly 375,000 people have crossed from Lebanon into Syria, fleeing Israeli bombardment, in less than two weeks, Lebanese officials said.

The government's crisis management unit, citing figures from Lebanese General Security, said 374,621 people — Lebanese citizens and Syrians living in Lebanon — have crossed into Syria since Sept. 23, when Israel intensified its air bombardment campaign in Lebanon.

Thousands have continued to cross on foot through the main Masnaa Border Crossing even after Israeli airstrikes cut off the road leading up to it on Thursday.

Associated Press journalists on Saturday saw a nonstop stream of people walking through a huge crater created by the airstrike to waiting buses on the other side.

DAMASCUS, Syria — Syrian President Bashar Assad praised Iran for firing nearly 200 missiles at Israel earlier this week saying it was a message to Israel that Tehran and its allies “can deter the enemy.”

Assad spoke during a meeting with visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Saturday. In comments carried by state media, Assad said that “resisting occupation, aggression and mass killings is a legitimate right.”

Assad said the Iran-led alliance known as Axis of Resistance will remain strong because of the backing of its people.

Syrian state media said Assad and Araghchi discussed ending Israel’s attacks on Lebanon.

Iran has been a main backer of Assad since Syria’s civil war began in March 2011.

TEL AVIV, Israel — The Israeli military said on Saturday its special forces were carrying out ground raids against Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon, destroying missiles, launchpads, watchtowers and weapons storage facilities. The military said troops also dismantled tunnel shafts that Hezbollah used to approach the Israeli border.

Some 1,400 Lebanese, including Hezbollah fighters and civilians, have been killed and some 1.2 million driven from their homes since Israel escalated its strikes in late September aiming to cripple Hezbollah and push it away from the countries’ shared border. On Tuesday, Israel launched what it calls a limited ground operation into southern Lebanon.

Nine Israeli troops have been killed in close fighting in the area in the past few days, which is saturated with arms and explosives, the military said.

Israeli strikes in Lebanon have hit civilian areas and infrastructure including hospitals and paramedics.

BEIRUT — Beirut’s southern suburbs was hit by 12 Israeli airstrikes early Saturday, including one that badly damaged a large hall Hezbollah has used to hold ceremonies, Lebanon’s state news agency said.

Later in the day, more strikes hit the area, from which tens of thousands of people have fled over the past two weeks.

Israeli airstrikes also hit areas in southern and eastern Lebanon, according to state media. At least six people were killed, according to NNA.

CAIRO — Palestinian medical officials say Israeli strikes in northern and central Gaza early Saturday have killed at least nine people, including two children.

One strike hit a group of people in the northern town of Beit Hanoun, killing at least five people, including two children, according to the Health Ministry’s Ambulance and Emergency service.

Another strike hit a house in the northern part of Nuseirat refugee camp, killing at least four people, the Awda hospital said. The strike also left a number of wounded people, it said.

The Israeli military did not have any immediate comment on the strikes, but has long accused Hamas of operating from within civilian areas.

Almost 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza during the almost year-long war, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between civilian and militant deaths.

CAIRO — The Israeli military on Saturday warned residents in parts of central Gaza to evacuate, saying its forces will soon operate there in response to Palestinian militants.

The warnings cover areas along a strategic corridor in central Gaza, which was at the heart of obstacles to a ceasefire deal earlier this summer. The military warned Palestinians in areas of Nuseirat and Bureij refugee camps, located along the Netzarim corridor, to evacuate to an along Gaza's shore called Muwasi, which the military has designated a humanitarian zone. It’s unclear how many Palestinians are currently living in the areas affected by the order, parts of which were evacuated previously.

Less than an hour after the evacuation order, Palestinians reported Israel’s artillery shelling and smoke bombing in the northern areas of Nuseirat camp. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Israeli forces have repeatedly returned to heavily destroyed areas of Gaza where they fought earlier battles against Hamas and other militants since the start of the war one year ago.

The vast majority of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million people has been displaced in the war, often multiple times, and hundreds of thousands are packed into squalid tent camps.

Others have remained in their homes despite being ordered to leave, saying nowhere in the isolated coastal territory feels safe.

BEIRUT — An Israeli strike on a refugee camp in north Lebanon has killed a Hamas official and his family, the militant group said Saturday.

Hamas said in a statement that the early Saturday strike on the Beddawi refugee camp struck the home of Saeed Atallah Ali, an official with Hamas’s military wing, the Qassam Brigades. Ali’s wife, Shaymaa Azzam, and their two daughters, Zeinab and Fatima — whom the statement described as children — were also killed in the attack.

Beddawi camp is near the northern city of Tripoli. It was the first such strike on the camp in the recent conflict.

Israel has killed several Hamas officials in Lebanon since the Israel-Hamas war began in October 2023.

SEOUL, South Korea — A military plane evacuating 97 people from Lebanon arrived in South Korea on Saturday.

South Korea's Foreign Ministry said the group on the plane includes South Korean nationals and their family members. There are about 30 South Koreans left in Lebanon besides diplomats and embassy workers who are staying.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol instructed officials Wednesday to send military aircraft to conflict areas in the Middle East as he called a meeting to discuss the impact of the intensified fighting in the region. There are about 480 South Korean nationals living in Israel and 110 in Iran.

Kashmiri Shiite Muslims shout pro-Palestine and anti-Israel slogans during a protest in solidarity with Palestinians and against the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, at Mirgund north village of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

Smoke rises after Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

South Korean nationals and their family members arrive after being evacuated from Lebanon with a South Korea's military aircraft at the Seoul airport in Seongnam, South Korea, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (Korea Pool/Yonhap via AP)

Draped in the Hamas and Islamic Jihad flags, mourners take the last look at the bodies of 18 Palestinians who were killed in an Israeli airstrike during their funeral in Tulkarem, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

Kashmiri Shiite Muslims shout pro-Palestine and anti-Israel slogans during a protest in solidarity with Palestinians and against the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, at Mirgund north village of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

Smoke rises after Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)