In February 2009, Aston Villa took on CSKA Moscow in what was arguably the club's biggest game in years in the last 32 stage of the UEFA Cup, but they were ultimately beaten over two legs.

Villa's amazing run in the league, masterminded by Martin O'Neill, saw them finish 6th in the Premier League, they club's joint highest Premier League finish in 11 years.

Villa took on CSKA in the last 32, knowing they had a difficult task on their hands and that was the case.

Villa fell behind but claimed a draw thanks to a goal from John Carew, who gave Villa a fighting chance going to Moscow.

Martin O'Neill was without eight first team players as Villa travelled to Russia and this showed; Villa lost the game 2-0, going out 3-1 on aggregate but Villa bowed out with their heads held high, following a superb run to even qualify for the UEFA Cup.

Villa qualified for Europe twice more after their maiden European campaign with Martin O'Neill at the helm but since he resigned, Villa have slowly dropped down the Premier League and now find themselves in the Championship; a dramatic fall considering where they have been in recent years.

Here, FLW's Chris Wilson will look at the team that faced CSKA Moscow and where they are now.....

 

Brad Guzan

Guzan is now playing for Premier League side, Middlesbrough.

He is currently their reserve keeper and he signed for the Teeside club after leaving Villa in the summer.

Guzan made 144 appearances in an eight year association with the club.

Guzan featured more so in Europe in this season than in the Premier League, with Brad Friedel playing the lions share of the games between the sticks in the league.

Guzan was a regular at Villa in his last three seasons at Villa Park and he helped Villa avoid the drop on several occasions, but he was helpless to prevent the inevitable last season.

Luke Young

 Young was released by QPR at the end of the 2013/14 season and has since not found another club. Young has seven England caps in what was an illustrious career, playing in the Premier League for 16 consecutive seasons, before dropping to the Championship with QPR.

In a three year association with Aston Villa, Luke Young made 75 appearances for the club, scoring two goals in the process.

He was a near ever-present in Europe for Villa, making seven appearances, playing both games against CSKA Moscow but he was unable to prevent them for crashing out of the UEFA Cup.

Curtis Davies

 Davies is currently plying his trade for Hull City in the Premier League, one of five in this team who are still playing in the top flight.

Davies enjoyed a four year spell with Villa, including a season on loan at Villa Park.

Davies made the bold move to leave Villa for their Midlands rivals, Birmingham, which proved to be a successful one, which earned him a move back to the Premier League with Hull City.

He has experienced highs and lows at Hull, scoring in the FA Cup final, arguably his finest moment for The Tigers.

 

Zat Knight

Knight left Reading in May 2015 after a brief spell with The Royals but has never gone back into the playing side of football and it remains to be seen what his next move will be.

Upon leaving Villa, Knight enjoyed a successful spell with Bolton Wanderers, in both the Premier League and Championship, before making the move to America in 2014 to play for Colorado Rapids but he didn't feature too heavily and he came back to England.

Nicky Shorey

 Shorey has now hung his boots up, after an illustrious career, which saw him pick up two caps for England, a huge achievement for him. Shorey has been a bit of a journeyman since his Villa days, playing for nine teams, most recently Colchester United.

Shorey left Villa for West Bromwich Albion in 2010 and has played for Reading, Bristol City and Portsmouth since. The left back has since had a spell playing in The Indian Super League with Pune City, where he stayed for a season, before returning to England.

Shorey now plies his trade for National League South side Hungerford Town.

 

Craig Gardner

 Gardner is still playing in the Premier League with West Bromwich Albion and has established himself as a fans favourite at The Hawthorns.

Gardner was successful at Villa Park but made the move to Birmingham in 2010, where he spent a year and a half before The Blue were relegated and he left for Sunderland.

Upon the expiration of his Sunderland contract, Gardner made the move to The Baggies, where he has been for two and a half years.

 

Stiliyan Petrov

 A Villa legend.

Petrov captured the hearts of not just Villa fans during seven year stay at Villa Park, which so tragically resulted in his playing career being cut short because of illness.

It is well documented what Petrov has been through in recent years and how he won his battle with Leukaemia.

He made a heart-warming return to Villa in the summer, where he was invited to play over pre-season, but he wasn't offered a playing role and instead he was offered a coaching role.

 

Gareth Barry

 Gareth Barry is a feature in Ronald Koeman's Everton side this year and you could argue that he has had the most successful career out of everyone in this team.

In an eleven year association with Villa, Barry racked up 365 appearances.

Upon leaving Villa, Barry earned a big move to Manchester City, where he has picked up a Premier League winners medal, playing a key role in City's success.

Barry left the Etihad for Goodison Park in 2014 after spending a season on loan with The Toffees.

Barry has also had an illustrious International career, amassing 53 caps for the Three Lions.

Ashley Young

 Young is currently at Manchester United but has found appearances hard to come by of late, due to number of factors, competition for places being the biggest problem for Young.

He always seems to be in and around the match day squad but struggles to get a consistent starting spot.

Since swapping Villa Park for Old Trafford in 2011, Young has never left United and had been playing quite regularly up until the last couple of seasons. Young has 30 England caps to his name and has scored seven goals in those appearances.

John Carew

 John Carew, believe it or not, is now a film star!

Carew starred in a Norwegian film called Felix Frost recently and he has already played a role in two other films since retiring from football in 2012.

The 6'5" striker made 113 appearances for Villa, scoring 37 goals in the process.

Carew left Villa Park on a temporary basis, making a loan move to Stoke City, before leaving Villa for West Ham after his contract expired at Villa Park.

Gabriel Agbonlahor

Agbonlahor is the only player out of this team who is still playing for Villa on a playing basis.

He has recently been re-instated into the starting eleven by new Villa boss Steve Bruce following a series on un-professional behaviour saw him training with Under 21's.

Agbonlahor has been with the Villa first team for eleven years after coming through the Villa youth system.

He has had loan spells with Watford and Sheffield Wednesday early in his career but he has been a regular first teamer ever since.

Whilst at Villa, he has earned himself two England caps, which came against Spain and Belarus.