Unai Emery insisted that Aston Villa's Europa League victory must only be the beginning, as he urged his team to set their sights on Europe's elite after winning the trophy for a fifth time. Beating Freiburg 3-0 on Wednesday evening brought Villa their first major silverware since the League Cup in 1996, but Emery is determined that this should not be the summit of their achievements.
A Challenge Ahead
Emery again rejected the tag of "king of the Europa League," preferring to focus on the present and the future. "Next year we will play in the Champions League and this is the challenge," the Aston Villa manager said. "The best teams in the world are there and it will challenge us a lot. The Premier League is the most difficult league in the world. To be fighting for the top seven, top five, top four is something very difficult. Hopefully we can be close with teams like Manchester City and Arsenal."
He added: "It's a huge challenge we have in the Premier League. Why? In the beginning we are not contenders for the top seven. There are top seven teams. Top six, and Newcastle is the seventh. And we are trying to get there. To try to be consistent there. We are achieving it."
Part of the Process
Winning the Europa League is part of a larger process. "Play for Europe, play for trophies," Emery said, explaining the stages of fulfilling the dream he outlined in his introductory press conference as Villa manager. "This is the first one and we are achieving it, and the experiences we are having are very important in how we can get better. Trophies make sense of what we are doing. We are not going to stop."
A key part of that process has been set-piece coach Austin MacPhee, as exemplified by the move that led to Youri Tielemans finding space to put Villa ahead with a ferocious volley. Villa captain John McGinn said: "I'm biased, but we have a great set-piece coach in Austin MacPhee. We tried to deceive a bit with the set piece. We did it against Liverpool at the weekend. Youri has great quality to find the goal. It would have been over the bar if it were me!"
MacPhee's Impact
Emery called MacPhee "a really fantastic creator. We must be so, so demanding in our details. Austin is fantastic. Everything we are working on makes sense. The hours in each training session each day to try to get as best as possible our challenges in set pieces. When we are scoring like that, of course we are proud of what we're doing."
The Villa goalkeeper, Emiliano Martínez, required treatment for a hand injury before the game and revealed after the match that he played with a fracture. "Today I broke my finger during the warm-up, and for me, every bad thing brings something good. I've done this my whole life and I'll keep doing it," the Argentinian said. "Should I be worried? Well, I've never had a broken finger before. Every time I caught the ball, it went the other way. But these are things you have to go through, and I'm proud to defend Aston Villa."
Villa's victory means that six Premier League teams could play in next season's Champions League, but only if Villa finish fifth in the table. Villa would qualify as Europa League winners, with the extra league phase place awarded to the team in sixth. Liverpool have all but secured fifth place, but could climb to fourth with a win over Brentford on the final day if Villa are beaten at Manchester City. That would open up a sixth Champions League spot for Bournemouth or Brighton. If Villa stay above fifth, the team who finishes sixth will go into the Europa League, with eighth spot earning a Conference League berth.
