Aston Villa are showing they belong among Europe's elite

I don't think I'll ever get bored of hearing the Champions League music at Villa Park, and I actually find myself getting a little bit emotional when it starts playing before the game, which probably sounds ridiculous to some people, but it's just something that means an awful lot to me after spending so much of my life supporting Aston Villa without getting to experience nights like these.

We've now had back-to-back Champions League games at Villa Park, we've scored nine goals across those two matches and we've started the competition with nine points from nine, which is an absolutely brilliant position to be in. I know we all want Villa to be successful and we want to keep pushing forward, but I do think it's important that we enjoy what we're watching at the moment because being involved in this competition isn't something that should ever be taken for granted.

I thought the 3-1 win over Viking was a really impressive performance, particularly when you consider what they'd done against Bayern Munich in their previous Champions League game. They'd gone 2-0 up against Bayern and eventually drawn 3-3, so there was certainly enough evidence there to suggest they could cause Villa problems if we weren't at it. Instead, we made the game look relatively straightforward, and I thought the way we played was probably even better than the scoreline suggested.

There was some ridiculously good football at times, particularly when we were moving the ball around in the final third, and on another evening we could quite easily have scored a few more. We were able to play through Viking, go direct when we needed to and use the width of the pitch in a way that we haven't necessarily seen too often under Emery previously. I thought it was a really enjoyable performance to watch, and it was another example of just how good this team can be when everything starts coming together.

The European record we've developed under Emery is absolutely crazy really, and I think it's something that deserves an enormous amount of credit. He just seems to understand these games so well, and whether we're facing one of the biggest clubs in Europe or an opponent that supporters perhaps don't know quite as much about, he always seems to have a really clear idea of how he wants Villa to approach the game.

What I particularly enjoy is how we're not simply turning up in the Champions League and hoping to compete. We're actually going into these games expecting to win, and I think there's a big difference between the two.

I'm not saying Villa are going to win the Champions League, and there are obviously some outstanding teams in the competition, but I genuinely believe we're capable of having a big say in it this season. I don't think there are many teams who would particularly want to come up against us at the moment, because we've got a manager who is so tactically astute and a squad that seems to be developing more and more different ways of hurting the opposition.

We've had a really disruptive summer, and there were understandable questions about how quickly the new players would settle and whether we'd be able to reproduce the standards that the previous group had established. Those players achieved some incredible things for Aston Villa, and I don't think anybody should underestimate how difficult it is to lose important members of a successful team and then expect everything to continue as normal.

But what we're seeing now is that Emery is starting to get this group into the sort of rhythm that we've become accustomed to seeing from his best Villa sides. Everybody seems to know their job, we're getting performances out of players in different positions and the competition for places is really beginning to bring the best out of people.

I thought the Viking game was a really good example of that because we were missing Manzambi, we had a genuine problem at left-back and yet Emery came up with a completely different system that worked brilliantly. Alysson was outstanding, Gomes was excellent in the role he was asked to perform and there were good contributions throughout the team.

That's what makes this group so interesting, because we're still learning about the players we've brought in and what they can offer. With the previous team, you generally had a pretty good idea of what the starting XI was going to look like and how we were going to play, whereas now there are so many different combinations available that even those of us who watch Villa every week are still being surprised by some of the things Emery comes up with.

I also think there's something to be said for the way Villa Park is starting to feel again. We had a slightly stodgy start to the season at home, but these Champions League games have brought some real momentum back to the stadium, and I thought the atmosphere against Viking was excellent.

It's a brilliant competition to be involved in, and I think we're in a really fortunate position where we're not just getting to experience these occasions, but we're watching Villa play some outstanding football at the same time.

My stepson came with me against Viking and it was his first experience of Champions League football, and he absolutely loved it. I think that's the sort of thing that brings home how special these nights are, because for younger supporters, this is becoming part of what they associate with Aston Villa, whereas for those of us who have been going for a lot longer, it's something we spent years hoping we'd get to experience.

We've got Barcelona away to look forward to later in the competition, and while that's obviously going to be a completely different challenge, I don't see any reason why Villa shouldn't go there believing they can cause problems. We've already shown under Emery that we're capable of competing with some of the best teams in Europe, and I think the confidence this group is developing will only help us when those bigger tests come around.

Nine points from nine is a fantastic start, and to be sitting up there alongside some of the biggest clubs in European football after three games is something we should all be enjoying.

I just think we're in a really good place at the moment. The players are beginning to develop an understanding, the new signings are contributing, the football is enjoyable to watch and we've got a manager who never seems satisfied, even when we're three goals up in a Champions League game.

I watched him giving Lindelöf instructions after we'd gone 3-0 ahead against Viking, despite the fact he'd barely put a foot wrong all evening, and I think that tells you quite a lot about the standards Emery demands.

There are going to be difficult periods during the season, of course there are, and we shouldn't get too carried away with every good result, but I think it's absolutely fair to be excited about what this team might achieve.

We're watching Champions League football at Villa Park, we're winning games and we're playing some really good stuff. For somebody who's supported Villa for as long as I have, that's something I'm never going to stop appreciating.