Aston Villa cruised to a 3-0 win over Young Boys - and even had room to see two goals ruled out - as they crowned their Champions League debut with a fine victory.
After taking their time to adapt to their Swiss hosts' plastic pitch, Villa settled after Youri Tielemans drilled home a back-post cross from a Lucas Digne corner in a training-ground move just before the half hour.
Farcical defending soon put them in full control as Mohamed Camara attempted a pass-back to his goalkeeper David von Ballmoos from a few yards out - which proved a calamitous decision.
Watkins pounced on the ball before he was caught by the home 'keeper, and with a number of players stopping and awaiting a potential penalty, Jacob Ramsey instead played on and rolled the ball into the empty net.
It could have been three before the break when Watkins, who had already missed a presentable chance, rifled in a rebound after his initial shot had been blocked, only for a harsh VAR review to judge he had handled the ball in the build-up.
It was more of an open-and-shut case as the same fate befell a stunning strike from substitute Jhon Duran with 11 minutes to go.
The Colombian's 20-yard first-time effort was inch perfect to find the bottom corner, but a clear handball from Amadou Onana several passes before saw him denied.
There was no stopping the Belgian himself minutes later, however.
The summer signing matched his goal tally from the whole of last season as he leathered in his third since his move from Everton into the same corner to seal a thumping victory in Bern, as Aston Villa ended their 41-year absence from the European Cup in some style.
The only black mark for Villa was Watkins being pictured with his heel on an ice pack shortly after he made way for Duran on the hour mark, but boss Unai Emery later said: "He's working well, he played well and I decided to change him like another player. He's ok."
Villa settle to show Champions League class
Sky Sports' Ron Walker:
"Plenty of good sides struggle to transfer their domestic form on to the European stage, especially in the Champions League.
"This is a different test for Aston Villa to last season's Conference League campaign with the weight of expectation of a first European Cup campaign in more than four decades, but the growth from that run played its part in navigating a trickier test than it seemed on paper.
"Even though the opposition were not top-tier, travelling to Young Boys required a level of maturity to rise above a raucous Wankdorf Stadium, put aside that Champions League debut pressure and put a stamp on the game - especially difficult on an unfamiliar plastic pitch which clearly favoured the hosts early on.
"Emery's game plan worked to perfection, as his side could fall back on training-ground routines for their opening goal when Tielemans' strike from a corner settled the early jitters.
"Emery referenced their Conference League performances after the game, calling their run to the semi-finals 'fantastic'.
"It may not have had the prestige of the level they have now reached, but intimidating away days in unfamiliar parts of Europe have prepared them well for this prolonged group stage - and they are already well on the way to getting out of it."
Emery dedicates victory to Shaw
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery on TNT Sport:
"This victory is for Gary Shaw, we can't follow a Champions League win like they did 42 years ago.
"We want to celebrate this victory for him and the whole family of Villa.
"It's always difficult, our experiences last year showed it. We focused very well at being consistent for 90 minutes, they pushed for the first 15 minutes but we imposed ourselves over time as well too."
