2 legged ties are not new now.
'Get used' to playing in Europe - means nothing. We had 5 yrs continously from 62-63...got nowhere.
The rs had none and got to the Semis because they had a good team...until they met a better one.
How much experience did Villa and Forest have. United hadn't kicked a ball in Europe for 12yrs when they won it.
Everton had no prior experience in 85.
The better players you have the further you go.
Sorry I have to disagree with you there. Comparing the CL/Europa with the old European competitions is chalk and cheese.
Pick the 79 cup win for Forest:
They beat Koln, Grasshopper, AEK and The RS over two legs and got Malmo in the final.
Villa had an even easier route but had to play Bayern in the final. Look at how many games and who they had to play? The speed of the games compared to back then, it takes some getting used to, bodies have to acclimatise to that level of work. Due to the fact that the same top teams are usually in it, those clubs are used to the playing styles of other countries, the atmospheres etc.
Utd were a top team and you saw how long they had to build to get to the final in the 90's and what happened to Wolves at the start of the season.
I agree the better players you have the further you go but we still have an inferiority problem and until you get out there and win games against good teams that will remain. If we miraculously get to CL before Europa it will be a blink and you've missed it affair. We have to get the confidence by winning first so when the players get out on the pitch they think 'we've got this'.