Aston Villa 3-0 Hibernian (8-0 agg)

Aston Villa secured their place in the group stage of the UEFA Europa Conference League following a 3-0 play-off second leg victory against Hibernian, progressing 8-0 on aggregate.

Leading 5-0 from last week’s first leg in Edinburgh, Villa went on to record their biggest-ever aggregate victory in European competition, surpassing the 7-0 scoreline which saw off Valur in 1981.

Jhon Durán’s well-taken finish in the 11^th minute set the hosts on their way, before Leon Bailey added a second on the night with a left-footed strike just after the half-hour mark.

Substitute Matty Cash found the net after the break, his third goal in two games, as Villa Park celebrated the return of European football to B6 for the first time since 2010.

The Villans will now take their place in Friday afternoon’s draw for the group stage of the Europa Conference League, which gets underway at 1.30pm.

Omari Kellyman, 17, and Seb Revan, 20, were awarded their senior debuts as they were both named in head coach Unai Emery’s starting XI.

Durán and Youri Tielemans were handed their first starts for Villa, while Bailey and Calum Chambers were also recalled as part of six changes from Sunday’s 3-1 victory at Burnley in the Premier League.

The visitors made a positive start to proceedings but it was Villa who opened the scoring with the game’s first chance of note after 11 minutes.

Pau Torres sent a fine throughball down the middle for Durán to chase and he delivered a sublime first-time finish beyond the approaching David Marshall from just inside the penalty area.

Robin Olsen was called upon to make a smart save from Jordan Obita’s long-range strike, before again getting down well to deny the visitors from the subsequent corner.

But it was Villa who made it 7-0 on aggregate just after the half-hour mark, patient build-up play finding Kellyman and he fed Bailey, who cut inside on to his left foot before drilling a low effort beyond Marshall.

Emery introduced Cash and John McGinn at the interval, with the latter taking the captain’s armband from Douglas Luiz.

And the home side continued to dominate proceedings, Durán winning possession in a dangerous area and testing Marshall.

Villa duly added a third on the night and eighth on aggregate – Cash following up to slam home a rebound after the Hibs ‘keeper could not hold on to Bailey’s free-kick.

Will Fish cleared off the line after Marshall did well to get a strong hand to substitute Ollie Watkins’ strike.

Villa continued to search for greater reward in the latter stages, Kellyman, McGinn and Cash all going close as the full-time whistle signified Villa's European journey in 2023/24 will continue.