Alan McInally on Aston Villa: ‘They’re even better than last year’

Alan McInally played for both Bayern and Aston Villa during the 1980s and ‘90s. Ahead of the meeting between his former clubs in the Champions League, the ex-Scotland striker talks about the English club’s recent upturn and visiting Oktoberfest in a kilt.

Nickname: Munich

When McInally goes to watch Villa games at the weekend, there’s a very good chance someone will shout the name of the Bavarian capital towards him. “My nickname here is still ‘Munich’,” the 61-year-old reveals in still excellent German. “Nobody says to me here, ‘Hey Villa. Hey Alan. Or hey Celtic’,” he jokes. The striker spent four years on the books at Bayern – still the only Scotsman to represent the Bavarian giants. He won the Bundesliga in his debut campaign before a bad knee injury curtailed his career in the early ‘90s.

The fact that McInally’s time in Munich is still so remembered in the UK is also down to the fact he stayed in football after his playing days, working mostly as a TV pundit covering the English Premier League. He also works closely with Aston Villa, including presenting their in-house podcast. It’s a job McInally clearly enjoys, especially being able to closely follow the Midlands club’s somewhat unexpected rise in recent months, which now peaks with a Champions League encounter at home to Bayern.

Emery the catalyst

“It’s an amazing time for Aston Villa, for the fans, for me as a former player. Everything’s moving in the right direction,” the Scot explains. The Villans spent many years in the lower reaches of the Premier League and were even in the Championship from 2016 to 2019. But last season’s best finish in some 30 years is very clearly down to one man. “Finishing fourth and qualifying for the Champions League was incredible. Villa were 14th or 11th three or four years ago. But they’re now a completely different team under Unai Emery,” McInally states.

After spells with Sevilla, Paris Saint-Germain, Arsenal and Villarreal, the Spaniard took over at Villa Park in summer 2022. According to McInally, “an experienced and successful coach” like him is exactly what the club needed. The team’s play used to be “hectic”, with no composure or movement of the ball. They are now a very different proposition on the pitch. “Unai Emery has better organised the team. Everyone knows exactly where they need to play, exactly what the coach expects from their position,” McInally explains. He adds that Emery has also recognised how he needs to deal with each individual player. “He knows the game but also the limits of his players.”

And it’s that factor that makes McInally certain that Villa will maintain their top form for a long time to come. “One hundred percent,” says the Scot, adding that it still feels crazy. He talks about Villa’s upcoming encounter with Manchester United in the Premier League, which a few years back would end in 4-1 and 5-1 defeats. But now he feels confident in a win for Emery’s side. “That shows how well the team is playing and how far they’ve come.”

First meeting since 1982

That being said, the feeling isn’t quite that strong when it comes to the upcoming Champions League encounter. “When Bayern come on Wednesday, they’re obviously the favourites,” he insists. However, Vincent Kompany’s team need to be careful: “Right now, Villa are in even better form than last year. They’ve also started the season well.” The Birmingham club have won four of their first six league fixtures to sit fifth in the table. Now the whole city is excited about the prospect of Bayern coming to town for their first meeting since the 1982 European Cup final.

As much as those of a Bayern persuasion don’t like to remember that defeat, those in claret colours are still aware of what a significant moment it was. “It was an incredible time for Aston Villa. Back then you had to win the league to qualify. That in itself was huge,” McInally explains. Nobody thought that Villa would ever go that far. Even in the final, Bayern were the favourites, but in the end it was a solitary goal from Peter With that decided the clash in Rotterdam.

A few months later, the English side also lifted the UEFA Super Cup against Barcelona. It remains one of their last major trophies, with nothing at all since the 1994 and 1996 League Cup triumphs. It means the memories of former glories make the game against Bayern on Wednesday even more special for the fans.

That’s also because there have been many lows in the club’s history since those highs, as McInally is well aware. The team had just been relegated to the second division when he arrived at Villa Park from Celtic in the summer of 1987 – just five years after being crowned champions of Europe. “Aston Villa is 150 years old this year. It was one of the first clubs in England. The fans have experienced lots of ups and downs there. But right now, both Bayern and Aston Villa are 100 percent up there, so it’s great that they’re now playing against each other.”

A strong squad

Villa’s squad is filled with quality that can make life tough for Bayern, according to McInally, who starts listing some of the excellent players. For example, there’s top scorer Ollie Watkins, who struck 27 goals last season. There’s ex-Bayer Leverkusen winger Leon Bailey, young midfielder Morgan Rogers – “He’s very good,” says McInally – or England defender Ezri Konsa. Plus, Emery’s side have “perhaps the best goalkeeper in the Premier League” in Argentina’s World Cup winner Emiliano Martinez.

All of that means there is real excitement ahead of kick-off. “It’ll be a fantastic game. The stadium, the crowd – the atmosphere inside Villa Park is absolutely sensational,” the former striker says of the clash between his old clubs, which he also doesn’t believe needs to see a winner: “A draw would be the best result for me, and probably also fine for Villa.” There is, however, one thing that McInally doesn’t like about this fixture. “I’d hoped that the game would be in Munich,” he claims, especially considering it’s still Oktoberfest. “I always used to go in my Scottish kilt,” he reveals.

A dominant Bayern were held to a 1-1 draw by champions Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday: