It is the biggest club from England’s second city against the biggest from Spain’s. And if the similarities between Birmingham and Barcelona may end there – the Brummie separatist movement is rather less prominent that its Catalan counterpart, for instance – then a trip to Camp Nou is both a sign of a new eminence and part of a broader question about Aston Villa’s status.

In footballing terms, England’s second city has often tended to be Manchester, Liverpool or London. The notion that Villa will forever lie further down the footballing food chain seemed to underpin Jamie Carragher’s somewhat derogatory comments last week; even if Villa’s threat to sue the pundit, signed by chairman Nassef Sawiris, struck many as frankly silly.

Meanwhile, Unai Emery wore his Villa blazer to the Ballon d’Or ceremony last week. It could be interpreted as a gesture of his enduring loyalty, amid the possibility the Manchester United job will become vacant; but perhaps he simply liked the garment.

Whichever, Villa may have one of the two finest managers currently working in the Premier League, along with Emery’s fellow Basque Mikel Arteta, and one of the best in Europe; his record five Europa League wins indicates as much. Villa’s renaissance has been inspired by Emery and can feel reliant upon him.

They could be a club who are establishing themselves as a regular presence on such nights or one who may not been seen again at Camp Nou for decades; in March, Newcastle, like Villa now, in a second Champions League campaign in three seasons, lost 7-2 to Barcelona. It remains to be seen if they will return any time soon.

For Villa, this is a first game against Barcelona at their iconic stadium for 43 years, since a Super Cup defeat; Villa were European champions then and won the second leg 3-0. It was their last continental trophy until Emery’s side beat Freiburg in May.

Villa are ticking off the clashes with the European superpowers. Two years ago, they renewed acquaintances with Bayern Munich and, as they did in the 1982 European Cup final, beat them 1-0. They ran Paris Saint-Germain close in the 2025 quarter-finals, only narrowly lost to them in this summer’s Super Cup and face them again next month. It only really leaves Real Madrid of the current elite to face.

For Emery, a return to his native Spain can serve as a reminder that he has never been hired by any of their three major forces. Atletico Madrid can at least offer the reason that Diego Simeone has been in situ for 15 years. Real may feel that Emery’s obsessive attention to detail may not be suited to their superstars or that his relative lack of charisma may not work at the Bernabeu. Barcelona tend to look for managers who fit into their traditions and suit their tactics. Emery’s sides are often entertaining, but he did not study at the school of tiki-taka.

Instead, he punched above his weight with other clubs in his homeland. He finished third in LaLiga three times with Valencia, won a hat-trick of Europa Leagues with Sevilla and a fourth with Villarreal.

He became the master of knockout competitions; indeed Emery has won three Europa Leagues since Barcelona last won the Champions League. And yet a competition Villa were knocked out of showed their priorities in their new reality. A heavily weakened side exited the Carabao Cup at Bournemouth last week; Emery has his sights on grander targets. After three straight wins, Villa could be on course for another top-eight group-stage finish in the Champions League.

Meanwhile, as the ‘big six’ looks an increasingly anachronistic term, the changing landscape of English football offers the chance for Villa to be frequent top-five finishers in the immediate future. Remarkably, the last English club outside the supposedly big six to play in the European Cup or Champions League, excluding qualifiers, in consecutive seasons is Villa themselves: between 1981 and 1983, entering the competition in the second season as holders.

So Emery’s reign could assume historic proportions, and not merely at Villa Park. And in that respect, one of the biggest games in Villa’s history may only be the second largest of their week.

Their trip to Old Trafford on Sunday may be framed by the discussions about Michael Carrick, his possible successors, arguably the best qualified of all, in Emery, and perhaps the favourite, in Eddie Howe. Whereas Howe concluded he could not develop a second terrific team with Newcastle, there are encouraging signs that Emery can with Villa. If he has a decision to make, that might shape it.

And a comparison of Villa and United now, whether in terms of the starting 11s, the direction of travel, the Premier League table or the Champions League table, could show a shift in the balance of power. Villa certainly looks the more appealing prospect. But for some, the question may be not why he does not go to United, but why Spain’s big three don’t come in for him.