Let me take you back to 1983. A year of turning points and exclamation marks in pop culture, history and sports.
Michael Jackon’s “Thriller” 13-minute music video premiered, thus creating a global reaction that would forever change the way we saw the genre, the Philadelphia 76ers won the NBA championship with a sweep over the Los Angeles Lakers, remaining as the last time they became champions, and Dr. Sally Ride became the first American woman to fly in space, marking an important trailblazing juncture for women who aimed to reach the stars.
And Aston Villa Football Club, my lifelong club, faced Barcelona in the European Super Cup.
Aston Villa and Barcelona playing back in 1983. (Getty)
Villa had lifted the European Cup the previous year after beating Bayern Munich. They then faced Barcelona, winners of the European Cup Winners’ Cup. It was a two-legged affair and a certain Diego Maradona, who had just joined Barça, did not play due to contracting hepatitis, which sidelined him until March.
Diego Maradona missed the 1983 European Super Cup for Barcelona due to hepatitis. (Getty)
For the Basque manager, Barcelona is a familiar foe. Not just because of his time in La Liga with multiple clubs such as Valencia, Sevilla and Villareal, but most notably with Paris Saint-Germain. It was in 2017 that Emery’s PSG suffered a historic two-legged loss to Barcelona. It was the Round of 16 in the Champions League and Emery’s PSG entered Camp Nou in the second leg with a 4-0 lead, but the Catalan club became the first team in European history to overcome four goals in the first leg of the competition by winning 6-1 (6-5 in aggregate) thanks to goals from Messi, Neymar, Luis Suarez, Sergi Roberto and an own goal from Layvin Kurzawa.
Emery would call it the worst loss of his career.
That was then and this is a different generation at Camp Nou under Flick. But the ghosts remain and I am certain that Emery still holds a proverbial splinter in his mind from that evening. He surely wants to make amends.
Finally, a poetic stance and something that will arrive at such significance for me will be the moment I see John McGinn, our captain, enter Camp Nou. The Scotland midfielder who played at the 2026 World Cup arrived as a 23-year-old back in 2018 when Villa was still in the Championship. Bought for less than 3 million pounds, McGinn is everything I admire in a player. Hard-working, no-nonsense and the complete opposite of Yamal’s exuberance. And I mean this as a character trait, not a criticism. It will be so special to see McGinn in this fixture.
John McGinn has been the heart and should of Villa’s renaissance. (Photo by Neville Williams/Aston Villa FC via Getty Images)
So this is a very special fixture because it is about the club I love and the club I admire. Both look to make modern history this season in the competition as Barcelona longs for a Champions League title for the first time since 2015, which was Messi’s final one. It would also be a coronation like no other for Yamal, who would have won every major trophy before the age of 20.
But for Villa, it would be the unspeakable mountaintop, as this is indeed Emery’s ultimate quest – to win the competition. Yes, it’s probably ludicrous for others to think that Aston Villa could even contemplate winning the Champions League – but this is the thing about Emery’s Villa. It’s about breaking conventional wisdom and maintaining the ethos that there are no limits to our dreams.
Barcelona against Aston Villa is a meeting of Brummie and Catalan culture, blended with a fervent appreciation of how football should be played. It is history and pragmatism. It is Claret and Blue dancing with Blaugrana.
And for one night, for now at least, I will wholeheartedly scream UP THE VILLA in the heart of Catalonia.
