Year of the underdog! Girona, Brest and the European minnows set to qualify for revamped Champions League next season

It might seem strange to place a former European Cup winner in a list of relative minnows, but Villa haven't played in the continent's premier club competition since they lifted the trophy for the only time in 1983.

Unai Emery deserves a lion's share of the credit for bringing the glory days back to the west Midlands. Since taking over in October 2022, he's cleaned up the mess left by Steven Gerrard and propelled the Villans up the table.

After clinching a Europa Conference League spot last season, Emery's side have stepped things up a gear this term and look certain to finish in the top five. There has been considerable investment in the team, of course, but considering Villa are set to edge out the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United to a Champions League spot, their achievements still deserve to garner plenty of attention.

Current position: 4th

There's a reason Bologna manager Thiago Motta is being linked with some of the biggest jobs in Europe. This season, the former Paris Saint-Germain youth coach - who once broke the internet with his sweeping plans for a 2-7-2 formation - has achieved well above expectations in Serie A.

Bologna currently sit in the final guaranteed Champions League qualification spot with a healthy buffer to fifth-placed Roma. And even if the Giallorossi do catch them up, fifth is likely to be enough for Champions League progression in Italy this season due to the new qualifying rules. That is great news for Bologna, who have only played in the European Cup on one occasion - and that was all the way back in 1964.

Whether Motta will be leading them out for these games remains to be seen. Since he took charge of the perennial mid-table dwellers, Bologna have become one of the most tactically interesting teams in Europe. Their star players include former Bayern Munich striker Joshua Zirkzee and exciting Scotland midfielder Lewis Ferguson, who surprisingly joined from Aberdeen in 2022.

Current position: 4th

A lot has been written about Girona's unlikely La Liga title push this season. For some, their emergence as genuine contenders was an uplifting reminder of football's unpredictability. But for others, Girona were simply a pawn of the City Football Group, being used to consolidate their hegemony over world football.

As with a lot of things, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. While it's true that the Girona story does not happen without CFG's backing - with the complicated Savio ownership situation a particularly modern, and likely pernicious, phenomenon - there is still plenty of smile-inducing aspects to this tale.

After an acrimonious exit from boyhood club Ajax, Daley Blind has found a new lease of life at the Spanish minnows, while the free-scoring Artem Dovbyk is proving his talent after being forced to depart Ukrainian side Dnipro-1. The title may be beyond their grasp now, with Real Madrid looking all but certain to finish top of the pile, but it will be fascinating to see how Girona get on in Europe next season.

Current position: 3rd

Serhou Guirassy attracted headlines after scoring 10 goals in the first five games of Stuttgart's season, though few expected Die Schwaben to use it as a springboard to return to the Champions League. However, as we enter the closing stages of the Bundesliga campaign, Sebastian Hoeness' side are well on track for a top-four finish.

Stuttgart do have European pedigree, reaching the UEFA Cup final in 1989, as well as winning the Bundesliga back in 2007, but they've fallen on hard times more recently and were even plunged into a relegation play-off with Hamburg last season. But having won that tie 6-1, they haven't looked back.

Even with Guirassy missing a portion of the campaign through injury and AFCON duty, they have consistently remained in the top four all year, with Deniz Undav and Chris Fuhrich also enjoying great seasons. Provided they can keep hold of Hoeness - who is attracting interest from Bayern Munich - there's nothing to stop them putting up a good fight in the Champions League next term.

Current position: 3rd

Probably the most extraordinary example of surpassing pre-season expectations on this list, Brest look set to join Paris Saint-Germain as France's representatives in the Champions League next season. Playing in the second-smallest stadium in Ligue 1, with a tiny wage budget to match, hasn't stopped Brest surging to second in the table.

Their current league position owes a lot to an incredible run of form that started all the way back in November. Three-straight defeats to France's big boys: Lille, PSG and Monaco, seemed to suggest the bubble had burst following a promising start to the campaign.

However, since then, Brest have been unstoppable, losing just one of their following 16 games. This run has included an outstanding comeback against PSG, as well as a credible draw with high-flying Nice.

There is, however, a problem creeping into view. Stadium Francis-Le Ble - where Brest play their home games - is over 100 years old and currently does not have UEFA sign off to host Champions League knockout games due to a lack of media facilities and floodlight issues. If the club do finish in the qualification spots as predicted, they will need to find a temporary home for their European games.

Current position: 2nd

Even the biggest football fanatic would have had difficulty pointing to Royal Union Saint-Gilloise on a map a few years ago. Once a powerhouse of Belgian football in the early 1900s, they drifted in obscurity as the century progressed.

But since Brighton chairman Tony Bloom purchased a sizeable stake in the club back in May 2018, they have been catapulted back into the mainstream. The incredible speed of their rise is most starkly demonstrated by defender Christian Burgess, who joined from League One Portsmouth back in 2020, and the centre-back has since experienced promotion to the Belgian top tier, a decent Europa Conference League run and is now set to face the continent's best teams - provided his side can hang on to top spot in the Jupiler Pro League, which would provide them an automatic route into the Champions League group stages.

Their incredible success is largely a result of the club's fruitful relationship with Brighton. Both Kaoru Mitoma and Simon Adingra enjoyed loan spells at the Seagulls' Belgian 'feeder club' before returning to tear up the Premier League, though Union SG have also uncovered some gems of their own.

Bayer Leverkusen star Victor Boniface and Deniz Undav - now at Brighton but on loan at Stuttgart - both passed through the finishing school before earning their big-money moves, and there's plenty of other talent in the current squad who are being tipped to secure similar blockbuster transfers.

Current position: 1st

Athletic Club are also looking to disrupt things in La Liga this season. The Basque club possess a strong Europa League pedigree - finishing as runners-up twice - but have only qualified for the Champions League group stages twice since its rebranding in 1992.

There's a chance that could change next season, though, with Athletic currently just a few points shy of breaking into the top four. They've got a fairly kind run-in, but a great deal will hinge on their meeting with fourth-placed Atletico Madrid later this month.

In terms of teams who could return to the competition after a lengthy break, Sparta Prague are currently on track for just their second Czech title in a decade. If they can successfully navigate the Champions Path in qualification, they'll be mixing it with European football's elite for the first time since 2006.

Norwegian success story Bodo/Glimt are also a few wins from their first-ever Champions League group-stage appearance too, after winning the Eliteserien in 2023, while Danish side Brondby are likely to make it to the qualifiers too, having not made it to the group stage since 1999.