John McGinn said there is no limit to Aston Villa’s ambition in the Champions League after beating Bologna 2-0 to go top of the table in a dream return to the competition. Villa last played in the top tier of European football back in 1983 but Unai Emery’s transformation of a sleeping giant knows no bounds as they became the only side to register three wins from three Champions League games so far. McGinn’s free-kick flew beyond everyone into the far corner to open the scoring in the second half before Jhon Duran kept up his prolific strike rate on a rare start for the Colombian.

“We don’t want to stop here. It puts us in a great position,” said McGinn, who joined the club when they were still in the second tier of English football in 2018.

“What we are building here is amazing.

“This is home for me. It is my seventh season here, we’ve had ups and downs. It has been a rollercoaster. Hopefully we can keep climbing.”

Bologna, by contrast, have just one point from their opening three games and one win in 11 games in all competitions this season.

The Rossoblu were one of the stories of European football last season as they finished fifth in Serie A to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in 60 years.

However, they have struggled since losing star players Riccardo Calafiori and Joshua Zierikzee to Premier League giants Arsenal and Manchester United, while coach Thiago Motta left to take charge of Juventus.