Man City's cheating crushed Aston Villa's dreams. This is how an enormous financial black hole is still costing Unai Emery to this day - and the star names that would be playing for them if not for City's chicanery

They cannot feel robbed of major trophies because of Manchester City’s behaviour but Aston Villa have as much reason to be angry with their Premier League rivals as anyone else. Without City, Villa would likely be enjoying Champions League football at Villa Park for the third straight season. They may have kept Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemans and Lucas Digne. Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio might have been there last term, too. Villa needed a point at Manchester United on May 25, 2025 to reach the Champions League. They produced one of their worst displays of the season and lost 2-0.