Villa defeated Lille on the way to the Conference League semi-finals in 2024 and reached the Champions League quarter-finals last term.
And on the evidence of this season, continental glory may well be a realistic prospect for the former European champions.
Not only was this Villa’s first win in France at the seventh attempt, but it was also a professional display from a team without key personnel, like the injured Matty Cash and Youri Tielemans.
The return of captain John McGinn – fit enough to make the bench after being sidelined with a knee problem since 18 January – was also a welcome sight with the business end of the season approaching.
In recent weeks manager Unai Emery has outlined the need to restore structure to his team after domestic defeats by Newcastle, Wolves and Chelsea.
With Lamare Bogarde ably deputising for Cash and with Pau Torres and Ezri Konsa giving little away defensively, that was evident as they limited Lille to very few promising positions.
And once Watkins scored to inject further belief, the visitors very much resembled the team that won seven of their eight league-phase fixtures and climbed as high as third in the Premier League.