TA: Paris internally admitted that Villa was the strongest opponent in the Champions League last year; the latter collapsed

Hupu September 22nd News TheAthleticUK team reporter Jacob Tanswell wrote an article on the column.

In preparation for a trip to Willside (a journey), Unai Emery chose Netflix.

He watched the documentary series "My Heart is Forever Following Sunderland" (Sunderland'TilIDie), hoping to predict the future of himself and Aston Villa.

Most of this 17-episode documentary chronicles Sunderland's decline from the Premier League and rapidly falling to the League One over the past decade, revealing the cruelty of football and how a club's ranking has changed rapidly and was easily abandoned.

Although Villa had not yet fallen to such a low in the first few weeks of the new season, the atmosphere around them plummeted.

Villa, a strong contender in the Champions League quarterfinals in April, still stumbled and lackluster in the first few weeks of the 2025-26 season.

Just a few minutes ago, Oli Watkins did not receive a cross from Sancho, and he could have saved the team and won a away victory, but Ezri Consa slammed the court with his hands.

But victory doesn't hide their frustrating performance. Sunderland has twice as many shots as Villa (4-2) and has a higher expected goal rate. Villa's only goal after his opponent received a red card early was Marty Cash's long shot in the 67th minute, helping the team take the lead and breaking the record of no goals in the 128-day league.

The team looks like a dying team, which is completely different from the game that narrowly defeated the final Champions League champion Paris Saint-Germain less than six months ago and ended up losing 4-5 with a total score.

In the weeks following that game, PSG officials privately admitted that Villa was the strongest team they had encountered on their way to winning the championship in UEFA's top club events. Yesterday's performance in Sunderland was very different.

Emery seemed a little annoyed when she walked through the player's passage (also before the final whistle) into the away team's locker room, then he rushed from one post-match interview to another, his eyes sluggishly and had no interest in whitewashing peace.

This is his most severe criticism, and he admits that the team is not acting as he wants. Earlier this week, he tried to make a more positive comment on Villa's unbeatable performance at the beginning of the season, insisting that the 0-0 draw with Everton on Saturday would lay the foundation for a better performance in the future.

For a team with many flaws, Villa's goal drought seems to be just a superficial problem. The league has just begun five games, but the team and fans are already in a state of depression. The players privately expressed that they felt the pressure and were eager for the transfer market to bring new momentum throughout the summer. The already sluggish atmosphere on the training ground is expected to worsen this week. The club also looks a bit dull. Last week, closely watched observers have been speculating on the reasons, but have never found the source of the problem. Before the season began, a source close to the first team who asked not to be named admitted that the offensive burden of the new season will fall on Watkins and England international Morgan Rodgers. This is due to the lineup imbalance caused by the transfer window: Villa lacks a traditional right winger.

Yesterday, Rodgers was replaced eight minutes before regular time, and away fans cheered.

This pair is the culprit of Villa's overall mistake. Villa's pass score rate is very low, and it is difficult for offensive players to perform at the last moment.

Emery has been pacing in his technical zone and seems very annoyed because the pass from Champion Liverpool was too fast on the deadline. Elliott's new coach asked him to pass shorter and safer in the offensive organization phase.

The self-image that Emery painstakingly emphasized in every interview disappeared before his eyes.