Aston Villa are eager to show that they deserve to be with the best in European football.
The Villans defeated Freiburg 3-0 with a professional performance in the Europa League final, ending a 30 year wait for a major honour at the club. Now, they get the chance to clash with Paris Saint-Germain in the Super Cup in Salzburg, sparking memory of a massive match 16 months ago.
'Same manager, same methods, same desire to achieve'
Matty Cash was one of the players present at Villa Park when the team scored three unanswered goals in an attempted comeback against PSG in the Champions League quarter-final second leg. The defender hopes that the side can cap off the brilliance from last season with another strong showing against the kings of the continent, even if they do not have the backing of the Holte End this time.
"It's massive. The manager's touched on it in recent days; the season is done, but you've still got the Super Cup which is finishing off the work you did last season. We're against a fantastic team who are obviously in demand. I think in football at the minute, they're the best team in the world by a mile.
"Hopefully, we can give them a good game. When we played them in the Champions League, we gave them a right good test. Villa Park was great that night, and hopefully we can take numbers to Austria and have a good go at it. It's a special game for us. It's another opportunity to go and win a trophy, so hopefully we can give it our all, and give it a good go."
A winning culture under Emery
"Since the manager's come in, he's implemented what it's like to win and what you have to do to win. Last year, we spoke about winning the trophy, and in recent years we've been in the top four, top five, top six for three or four years in a row now.
"We set the bar high, competing in Europe and doing well in the league, and I think it's what everyone wants to do. If you're always up there, you're successful as a team, as a club, so the levels we're setting, the demands we're doing as a group, you have to be there. The club, when you're winning things and you're always there, you want to stay there."
McGinn on competing with the elite
Club captain John McGinn also asserted the desire of the club to continue competing with the elite.
"I think we've consistently competed with the best in England, I think we've consistently competed with the best in Europe no matter what the competition is.
"We'll have our challenges, there's a lot of change, but when you look at other clubs around England, there's a lot of change there as well - a lot of coaches changing, a lot of players changing.
"But what we still have is a main core - same manager, same methods, same desire to achieve more.
"A lot of people thought we had reached our ceiling a couple of seasons ago and we proved them wrong. We've still got the same hunger and desire to go and achieve more and as long as we've got the hunger and desire to do that, Aston Villa fans can expect as much as possible."
