Ollie Watkins shares one big advantage Aston Villa have over Bayern Munich

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Aston Villa take on Bayern Munich tonight in what could go down as the Villa Park side’s biggest game in decades.

Villa’s first UEFA Champions League home tie in over 40 years, Unai Emery’s side welcome the German giants in a game that every Villian supporter has been waiting for since the Premier League side’s European fixtures for the season were announced.

Although Bayern head to Villa Park not as Bundesliga champions, Vincent Kompany’s side have been in top form this season, with Villa set for a huge test against one of the biggest clubs in Europe in the Champions League.

And Ollie Watkins has shared what big advantage Villa now have over Bayern heading into tonight.

Watkins names Unai Emery as Aston Villa’s X-factor vs Bayern Munich

Speaking to the press ahead, Watkins named Emery as the figure who can help the Birmingham-based side in this evening’s tie against Bayern given how many times the former Arsenal head coach has managed games on the continent.

Although Bayern are one of the most experienced sides in competing in the Champions League, Villa manager Emery comes into the competition with over 100 European games on the touchline, an advantage that could be huge for the Villa Park side.

Watkins said when asked about Emery’s experience managing in Europe and how the Spanish coach can help Villa tonight against Bayern: “We’ve got the manager we trust who has been there, experienced it all. We’re in the best hands possible.

“He’s experienced and won a lot of trophies and managed in a lot of Champions League games. We have faith in him and the squad and confidence that when we play our best we can put anyone to the test.”

Emery will be key for Villa in making it out of the league phase

Emery is regarded as something of a European football specialist given his incredible record in the UEFA Europa League and last season pushing Villa to the UEFA Europa Conference League semi-finals.

And this season in the Champions League, even with the revised format, Emery will be key for Villa in their quest to make it out of the league phase and into the knockout stage of the competition.

Indeed, Emery is one of the most experienced managers in Europe when it comes to playing continental football, and Watkins is right to view the Villa manager as a secret weapon of sorts when facing off giants of the game like Bayern.