It was not so long ago that Villa decided to sign Alex Moreno, now on loan at Nottingham Forest, because he was regarded as the ideal profile for an Emery-style left-back; a sharp burst of acceleration was vital to his one-v-one and ball-carrying abilities.

After wins against Young Boys and Bayern Munich, Aston Villa can put one foot in the Champions League knockout stages by beating Bologna - but Unai Emery doesn't want to stop there

He added: "I don’t want to waste my time here. You can waste your time here but we don’t want to waste time here. My objective here individually is to keep the same level now being in the Champions League and to add to it by being a contender for a trophy."