Aston Villa will be replicating Newcastle United this season, as they prepare to compete in the Champions League.
It was the Magpies who played in the Champions League last season, and it was quite the experience for Eddie Howe and his players.
Newcastle United were tested against the best, thrown into the group of death alongside Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund and AC Milan. It was a big ask for Newcastle to make it out of that group, and they ultimately fell short.
But it was not for the lack of trying. There was the famous win over PSG at St James’ Park, while the reverse fixture was almost just as iconic. However, a terrible handball decision against Tino Livramento robbed Newcastle of victory. Had that mistake not been made, the Magpies would not have been dumped out of the competition at the earliest opportunity.
However, while it was an incredible experience for Newcastle United, it stretched Howe’s squad beyond belief. Injuries became a real issue, to the point that the Magpies are still feeling the effects.
Newcastle’s squad simply was not deep enough to compete on all fronts, and it resulted in an underwhelming campaign.
Paul Scholes is worried about Aston Villa after what happened to Newcastle United
The 2024/25 season represents a different challenge for Newcastle, as they have no European football.
As for Aston Villa, they will hope that the rigours of the Champions League do not take its toll.
That is a big concern for Paul Scholes, who has spoke on The Overlap YouTube channel about why he is worried about Aston Villa this season.
“I think the big worry for Villa will be squad size,” he said.
“You think of Newcastle last year. We talk about teams having to play the same team – they went through a spell… Horrific injuries. The same 10 or 11 players were playing every single week and they were shot to pieces.”
Newcastle were decimated last season
As Scholes says, Newcastle really were shot to pieces last season. The injuries completely ruined what should have been a special campaign.
Howe simply was not able to rotate, being forced to pick the same outfield players game after game, every three or four days. It was exhausting, and it proved to be the toughest period of Howe’s tenure on Tyneside.
It was made even tougher by Sandro Tonali’s suspension, with the big summer signing in 2023 not able to feature.
But he is back very soon, while Newcastle will hope the reduced number of fixtures will allow them to avoid the injuries they endured last year. Those injuries have not fully gone away, however, with Sven Botman, Jamaal Lascelles and Matt Targett still unavailable.
For Aston Villa, they too will feel the effects of being in the Champions League. However, they might be slightly better suited after playing in last season’s Europa Conference League. While the calibre of opponent is not the same, Unai Emery’s players have at least had a taste of playing more games and travelling all over Europe.
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