Aston Villa have waited over 40 years to operate on this grand stage and delivered the swagger of Champions League veterans in a fitting tribute to their golden boy Gary Shaw. Villa will face far tougher tests ahead but this was a fine return to Europe’s elite competition,

regular in the media room at Villa Park and other grounds during his work as a statistics analyst. But, of course, it is his feats on the pitch which will be his legacy. A league and European champion by the age of 21, it seemed Shaw had the world at his feet.

Gary Shaw, an Aston Villa legend and one of the club’s celebrated European Cup winners, has died at the age of 63. Villa confirmed in a statement released on behalf of his family that Shaw had passed away earlier on Monday. It was reported last week that Shaw was in a serious condition in hospital after falling and sustaining a head injury.