On Sunday afternoon, Aston Villa will welcome Brighton to a sold-out Villa Park, as the Birmingham side look to qualify for European football for the first time in over 12 years.
While Europa League qualification may now be out of reach for Unai Emery’s side, the Europa Conference League represents a tangible shot for European silverware, represented by West Ham’s superb run to the final this season.
Emery has led a stunning turnaround in the Midlands, taking Villa from 15th and just three points above the bottom three, to seventh on a commanding 58 points and sitting above the likes of Tottenham, Chelsea, highflying Brentford and Marco Silva’s impressive Fulham.
Since Aston Villa’s last-minute loss to Arsenal in mid-February, the Villans have lost just twice, both being 1-0 away losses at Man United and Wolves.
The impressive run has seen them record wins against Chelsea, Tottenham, Fulham and Newcastle among others. In addition, Emery’s side produced dominant displays at Brentford’s G-Tech community stadium and Anfield, with both games finishing 1-1.
However, as Emery faced the media for the final pre-match conference of the season, it was clear his ambitions go much further, with a desire to take the Midlands club into Europe’s elite club competition, the Champions League.
Team News
Emery confirmed ahead of Super Sunday that Jed Steer, Philippe Coutinho and Alex Moreno all remained out for the final game of the season. However, there was more positive news concerning Diego Carlos.
“Diego, he trained today and if he’s ready tomorrow I think he’ll be available. We will be without Alex Moreno. He had surgery last week on his hamstring. We are going to follow it; he’s going to be out for two to three months, perhaps back early August, OK, so it’s two or three months. Coutinho is out as well. Jed Steer as well. There are other players that we have some doubt because some players have some pain. But now, we won’t have Alex Moreno, Jed Steer and Coutinho. But there could be some doubts tomorrow [at training] with other players but they should be OK.”
Diego Carlos has had a more than difficult time since joining Aston Villa last summer from Sevilla for a fee of £30 million, the centre back has been kept out of large swathes of the season due to a rupture to his Achilles and has only played once since starting Villa’s two games of the season.
The centre back won many plaudits in Spain for his aggressiveness and pace which enabled him to keep up with the quickest of attackers. If Emery can get him back fit and playing his best football he could be a huge boost to their backline.
On European Football
With three points necessary to secure a Europa Conference League place, Emery underlined his personal desire for Aston Villa to play in Europe, he said:
“For me, it means a lot, I played in Europe for 15 years in a row. Champions League and Europa League with Villarreal. To play in the Conference with Aston Villa will be amazing because I I don’t want a break [from Europe].”
Unai Emery is the one manager in the Premier League to have won the most European silverware, with the Spaniard leading Sevilla to three Europa League trophies on the bounce and winning one with Villareal as they beat Manchester United in the final, before leading the Spanish side to a Champions League semi-final.
The former PSG and Arsenal boss is highly regarded among Europes’s top clubs with a track record of turning underachievers into overachievers. Emery highlighted how if Villa want successive seasons in Europe, they will have to be ambitious and improve together.
“Of course, we have to be very ambitious. I am pushing everybody to get better. We have to do each step by being strong and trying to be passionate to do it. We are this way. We’re progressing very well. The players are responding very well. But we are in the first step. If we get our objective on Sunday we will be very happy.
"It’s the first step this year; we’ve escaped from the bottom, got top 10 then the third objective is the European places It's the most difficult step to get in. If we get it or not, it will not change our idea about how to improve. We will add some different players for the project next year. The most important players are here now.”
On the pressure of playing for Europe
Emery highlighted the importance of his players learning to play under pressure, with the necessary excitement and motivation to be able to enjoy the process.
“I’ve told you many times; the pressure is amazing; it’s not really pressure to play for something. You have to be excited and motivated and enjoy the process. You have to focus only on the game plan. When you are focused trying to work hard with the style and idea, players are focused and practising, applying.
It’s a good way, this is the moment we can feel, all you can do on the pitch only facing each moment about everything. That is, maybe, to play under pressure. The pressure is positive, not negative. It’s about playing for something important. I want pressure.”
For Villa, their European fate is in their hands and with Unai Emery at the wheel of a now steady ship; there will be very few that will doubt them in what is becoming an impressive Premier League outfit.