Aston Villa travel to the Nou Camp on Tuesday night to face Barcelona in the Champions League — looking to become the first English team to win at the stadium in almost 20 years.
Unai Emery (Credits: BBC Sport)
The match arrives as Unai Emery marks four years since replacing Steven Gerrard at Villa Park — and celebrates his 55th birthday on the same day. When Emery was unveiled in November 2022, he stated two dreams: win a trophy with Aston Villa, and take the club into Europe. Fast-forward to today, and Villa arrive in Catalonia fresh from winning the Europa League in May, which ended a 30-year trophy drought.
“My dream is to win a trophy with Aston Villa. It’s my challenge,” he said at his unveiling. “My second dream and my objective could be to play with Aston Villa in Europe.” Emery has already achieved his goals — which has naturally led to speculation about the next step, with Manchester United admirers circling and Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher suggesting Emery would want to manage an elite club. Villa, angered to the point of threatening legal action, see themselves as ready to join the elite with Emery leading the way.
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“We are constantly seeking new challenges and we want to respond in games against Barcelona to see how far we are from them,” Emery said. “We won it [the European Cup] in 1982 and right now we are enjoying reminiscing with our fans, playing in this competition again, and trying to repeat that success.”
He was honest about the task: “Barca are favourites because of the present and what they have done over the last 10 years, but they need to confirm their favourite role.” With Barcelona on six points and Villa on nine in the league stage, Emery added: “We need to find out our personality and make the most of our qualities.”
Emery signed his most recent contract in May 2024, tying him to Villa until 2029, and the club will ultimately hand him a new deal following the Europa League triumph. His methods remain intense — players can face several long meetings a week and take months to adapt — a meticulousness that has made him one of Europe’s most effective coaches, with Europa League wins at Sevilla (three times) and Villarreal behind him.
Villa did lose players in the summer to traditionally bigger clubs — Emi Martinez, Morgan Rogers, Ezri Konsa, Youri Tielemans and Lucas Digne, with Ollie Watkins also leaving for Saudi Arabia — but the changes have given Emery new vigour. Barcelona sources reportedly fear Villa’s ability to exploit weaknesses, citing the struggles of Alejandro Balde and Joao Cancelo’s lack of defensive instinct.
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Source: BBC Sport — read the full story there.
