What happened to the Aston Villa players that were humiliated by Rapid Vienna
A look back at Villa’s last fixture in Europe when Rapid Vienna dumped Kevin MacDonald's men out of the Europa League back in the summer of 2010
Unai Emery’s big challenge at Aston Villa is to secure European football. Villa could well achieve it this season should their impressive form continue knowing a win in their next game against Chelsea can put them within just one point of the top seven.
Villa will aim for a Europa Conference League slot first before attempting to cement a place in the Europa League, with the Champions League a sincere target for Villa’s ambitious owners.
Villa, meanwhile, have been out of Europe since the summer of 2010 when Kevin MacDonald's side were humbled by Rapid Vienna of Austria. Villa drew 1-1 in Vienna as Barry Bannan scored in the 12th-minute. It was back to Villa Park seven days later as interim boss MacDonald named his strongest-possible XI. However, it backfired as Villa were beaten 3-2 having led twice with Rapid winning 4-3 on aggregate.
Here’s the starting XI and substitutes from that crazy evening back in August 2010, with Villa aiming to return to Europe under Emery within the next couple of seasons.
Brad Guzan
The American played in both legs and went on to play 171 games for Villa between 2008 and 2016. Guzan, 38, is still turning out for Atlanta United in the MLS.
1 of 18Habib Beye
The full-back had a shocker after arriving from Newcastle before calling time on his career after a spell with Doncaster in 2012. Beye is now managing Red Star FC in the French third division.
2 of 18Carlos Cuellar
Always a fan favourite, Cuellar enjoyed spells with Sunderland, Norwich and Almeria after his four years at Villa, while he also turned out for four clubs in Israel. Cuellar is now a coach at SS Reyes in the Spanish third division.
3 of 18James Collins
![James Collins]()
The Welshman had a decent spell at Villa Park between 2009 and 2012. He retired in 2019 and has since become a part-time pundit for BBC. Collins has recently become a partner with diamond and watch dealer Carr Watches.
4 of 18Curtis Davies
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The 38-year-old is still turning out for Derby County who are eyeing promotion back to the Championship. Davies has made 18 appearances for the Rams this season.
5 of 18Ashley Young
![Ashley Young of Aston Villa]()
Ashley Young, 37, remains an important part of Emery’s squad back at Villa while his future will be ironed out in the weeks and months to come as his deal expires in June.
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