Sport

Europa League Glory Would Define Emery’s Villa

Unai Emery is the master of the Europa League. No manager has won European football’s second tier competition more times than the Spaniard who has lifted the trophy four times. On Wednesday, Emery can add a fifth Europa League title with an Aston Villa victory over Freiburg in Istanbul.

Villa are firm favourites to overcome their Bundesliga opponents. Under Emery, they have grown accustomed to big European nights, making a run to the quarter-finals of last season’s Champions League where they pushed eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain all the way.

However, the sight of Villa lifting the Europa League trophy would be the greatest symbol to date of just how far the club has come under the Spaniard’s stewardship. He has turned the Villa Park outfit into a force to be reckoned with in the Premier League and on the continent. Now it’s time for some silverware to prove that.

When Emery arrived at Villa Park nearly four years ago, he found a club merely attempting to establish itself in the Premier League. Aston Villa had finished in the bottom half of the table in their three previous seasons under Dean Smith and Steven Gerrard and seemingly faced a fight against relegation.

Very quickly, though, Emery put his own stamp on the team he inherited. He got more out of players like Ollie Watkins and John McGinn, turning Aston Villa into one of the most energetic sides in the English top division. That energy has powered Villa to their first European final since the 1980s.

By finishing in the top five of the Premier League table, Aston Villa have already secured their place in next season’s Champions League. This is an achievement that will meaningfully change the outlook at Villa Park, especially considering how Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSL) has recently limited what they can spend.

For Aston Villa’s decision-makers and coin counters at executive level, Champions League qualification already makes this season a success. Nonetheless, Europa League glory in Leipzig on Wednesday would be the sort of thing not experienced by the Villa faithful since the days of Peter Withe and co.

“We are so proud, how we are doing the way during the season in Europa League, and it’s something we are feeling is special,” said Emery ahead of the encounter against Freiburg. “It’s a process, and Europe is something (that) can give us prestige, can extend our football for Europe and our brand, Aston Villa’s brand through Europe.

“And, of course, playing one final is the consequence (of) how we are progressively getting better. Being demanding in our way in Europe is something (that) makes us so proud, and of course, (gives) us as well the responsibility now to try to bring home this trophy.”

McGinn is currently in excellent form having scored three goals in his last three outings. The Scotland international has been a driving force for Emery’s team over a number of years and could be a difference-maker for Villa against Freiburg. McGinn is the beating heart of the Aston Villa side.

Watkins has rediscovered his scoring touch at the end of a difficult season for the England international and could provide Aston Villa with the finishing instincts they require to get the better of their German opponents in Istanbul. Morgan Rogers is another elite-level player who might have his say on the final.

In Emery, though, Villa’s biggest difference-maker is the guy in the dugout. He has moulded Aston Villa in his own image and so it’s only fitting that the process of the last few years could lead to glory in the Europa League. The trophy Emery knows best could be the emblem of his Villa legacy.