Unai Emery's career has been shaped by a relentless drive for improvement that few can match.
Win, lose or draw, Emery sits behind his laptop immediately after every match and analyzes every detail.
Emery, a four-time Europa League winner, believes Villa can go far in the Champions League this season and is setting more ambitious goals for his team.
His standards are so high that even after a result that takes Villa closer to a top-eight finish, which would seal automatic qualification for the last 16, he will know they have to do better.
Before substitute Ross Barkley's deflected shot gave Villa a third straight win in all competitions after a run of eight games without one, Emery's men were the authors of their own downfall – and not for the first time in the Champions League of this season.
First it was Tyrone Mings who picked up the ball in his own penalty area against Club Brugge and allowed the Belgians to score the only goal of the match.
And in Leipzig, two moments of hard work at the back saw Villa almost take three points from a game they controlled virtually from start to finish.
Despite goals in both halves from John McGinn and substitute Jhon Duran – a half-time substitute for the injured Ollie Watkins – Villa almost had to settle for a draw as Lois Openda and Christoph Baumgartner's sloppiness allowed them to equalize twice and go close the win for Leipzig came their first point of this campaign.
Things could have been even worse for Villa. In the closing minutes, Pau Torres passed the ball straight to Openda, after which the Leipzig striker shot too close to Emi Martinez. But then came Barkley's strike, which gave Villa their third straight win in all competitions.
It's worth remembering that Villa have only conceded three goals in their six European games – all the result of their own folly. Who knows how far they can go in this competition, if they can just tighten up a bit.
“In the beginning we tried to be protagonists,” Emery said. 'Now we are almost certain to finish in the top 24, maybe even in the top 16. Maybe now we have a chance to be in the top eight. 'We play Monaco and Celtic in our last two games and we will be motivated. Our goal now is higher than the goal we had when we started this competition.”
There was no place for Duran in the line-up, even though he scored the only goal against Southampton last Saturday. Watkins was reinstated in ninth position with McGinn and Morgan Rogers close behind him, while Emery switched to a back three.
It took less than three minutes for Villa's plan to pay off. Matty Cash's cross provided extra width on the right and found Watkins at the far post. McGinn managed to outwit Nicolas Seiwald, grab the knockdown and power home from eight yards.
Leipzig were flat and uninspiring, which made it all the more frustrating when Villa leveled at half-time. It was a simple ball over the top from Seiwald that somehow neither Ezri Konsa, Diego Carlos nor Emi Martinez managed to eliminate. Openda raced to tap the ball past Martinez and slot in the equalizer.
Watkins' injury gave Duran his chance and the Colombian might have scored immediately if he had shown a little more composure from twenty yards.
Villa regularly found space in that area but failed to make it count. Boubacar Kamara was the next to try with a low effort that did not bother Peter Gulacsi. No wonder Emery put his head in his hands.
Fortunately for the Villa boss, he has a player who is capable of the unexpected. Duran collected a pass from Youri Tielemans, drove away from Arthur Vermeeren and inside Willi Orban before sending it over Gulacsi from 25 yards. Perhaps Gulacsi's positioning should have been better, but it was still a fantastic display of skill.
Villa, meanwhile, looked dangerous every time they broke down. Rogers was the last to miss from the edge of the penalty area and Duran thought he had his second just before the hour mark when he converted Cash's low cross only for VAR to rule out the goal for offside.
How Villa would curse that call. Another long ball, this time from Benjamin Henrichs, found the back line hesitantly and allowed Openda to run into space. This time the Belgian crossed and Baumgartner produced a fantastic volley over Martinez to level the match again. Openda should have scored the third when Pau Torres gave the ball away, but shot straight at Martinez. Moments later, Barkley aimed from 25 meters and the ricochet off Lukas Klostermann left Gulacsi helpless.
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