00:00Twelve years ago, Tyrone Mings was driving a battered £100 Citroen Saxo, juggling jobs
00:08as a barman and a mortgage advisor while playing non-league football for Yatetown and later
00:15Chippenham Town.
00:17His dream of becoming a professional footballer was slipping away until 2012 when he called
00:24in sick to attend a trial at Ipswich Town.
00:28Six months after nearly quitting, he had broken into the professional circuit.
00:34John McGinn, meanwhile, was making his first steps at St Mirren.
00:38His pre-season tour was anything but glamorous, featuring games against Accrington Stanley
00:44and Carlisle United.
00:47But it was a start and he seized the opportunity, slowly building his career.
00:53As for Ollie Watkins, the youngest of the three was just signing schoolboy terms with
00:58Exeter City.
01:00Nine years earlier, he had failed a trial at the club.
01:03A raw but inconsistent wide forward, he was prolific at youth level but had much to refine.
01:10Hours of extra training helped him develop into a complete player.
01:15Fast forward to today and these three players symbolise Aston Villa's meteoric rise.
01:20Their journey mirrors the club's own transformation from a mid-table championship side to Champions
01:27League quarter-finalists.
01:28Of course, to play a quarter-final is fantastic, it's fantastic, we're very excited, very motivated
01:37against everything we were expecting to play.
01:42Of course, to play against PSG is very difficult.
01:45They show their capacity playing against Liverpool or visiting Paris, and I will visit
01:51there playing against them, it's been fantastic.
01:55Their paths converged in a defining moment, Villa's 3-0 victory over Club Brugia 6-1 an
02:01aggregate, securing a Champions League quarter-final spot.
02:07As fireworks lit up the night sky and fans roared, the trio stood as proof of Villa's
02:12remarkable ascent.
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