Unai Emery at Aston Villa: “Mister Europa League” delivers again

Aston Villa’s participation in the Europa League almost seems like a distortion of competition. This is not just because the team from Birmingham has the most money, according to the financial service provider Deloitte, Villa is the financially strongest club in the competition with a recent turnover of 450 million euros – well ahead of VfB Stuttgart (296 million euros). Above all, Unai Emery is the coach and he is considered almost unbeatable in the second most important European club competition.

In seven Europa League seasons so far, the Basque has won four titles with his clubs (three with Sevilla FC from 2014 to 2016, one with Villarreal FC in 2021); He also reached the final with Arsenal FC in 2019. Internationally, Emery is therefore nicknamed “Mister Europa League”. This season too, Emery lives up to his position as a favorite. Before the final matchday of the league phase on Thursday, Aston Villa is tied for second place behind league leaders Olympique Lyon and is already securely qualified for the round of 16 in March. With a home win against Salzburg, this position could no longer be taken away – it guarantees home advantage in the second leg of all possible knockout rounds. Even the reserved Emery admitted that he already dreams of winning another European Cup.

In order to motivate the players and the club to do so, the coach obviously needed a lot of persuasion. Because the disappointment with the outcome of the previous season was deep: In both the Champions League and the FA Cup, Villa failed against the eventual winners – Paris Saint-Germain and Crystal Palace. In the Premier League, they narrowly missed out on qualifying for the premier class again due to the poorer goal difference. These setbacks had a direct impact on the current season, financially and sportingly.

Without the money from the Champions League, Aston Villa had to sell important players, as they did in the summer of 2024. This time, homegrown player Jacob Ramsey moved to league rivals Newcastle United for 45 million euros. In return, the club only signed right winger Evann Guessand from Nice for 30 million, other players, such as former Borussia Dortmund professional Jadon Sancho from Manchester United, only came on loan. Additional expensive transfers would have violated financial rules after Villa had previously invested heavily in the squad for years under billionaire owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens in order to catch up with the top teams.

In the Premier League, Villa collected twelve wins in 13 league games

Shortly before the transfer deadline in August, Argentina’s world champion goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez suddenly wanted to move to Manchester United, but the club ultimately decided on the younger Belgian Senne Lammens. Martínez was left out of the squad by Emery for a Villa game but subsequently returned between the sticks.

At the start of the season, Aston Villa did not win any of their first five league games and were in second-to-last place in the table. The performances looked lackluster and there were rumors that Villa could be relegated in this condition. “I was extremely worried,” Emery admitted. In response to the crisis and the mixed transfer phase, sports director Monchi, once Emery’s companion at Sevilla FC, mutually resigned from his position. Emery himself appealed to the players: “Don’t waste time!” The announcement that continued poor performance could jeopardize everyone’s reputation and chances of taking part in the World Cup had an impact. The team pulled itself together and started a winning streak: twelve wins in 13 league games, including home wins against Manchester City and Arsenal.

The comeback catapulted Villa almost vertically into the top group. Before the second half of the season against Arsenal at the end of the year, the club was only three points behind the Gunners. Although the top game was lost 1:4, the performance confirmed Emery’s team as potential title candidates. Villa currently share the points tally with Manchester City and are just four points behind leaders Arsenal. Everything seems possible for the rest of the season – from the championship to a dip in form. The lead over their first pursuers Manchester United is a comfortable eight points. The prospect of returning to the premier class made the club invest again: several players arrived in January, the most prominent addition being ex-Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham from Besiktas Istanbul.

Aston Villa embodies the typical strengths of an Emery team: compact defense, tactical sophistication and team unity. Villa also has the individual class of numerous well-known international players such as England’s Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins and Ezri Konsa. Playmaker Rogers, 23, is considered the team’s most valuable player; He has eight goals and seven assists this season – he is currently preferred to Jude Bellingham in Thomas Tuchel’s national team. Like hardly any other English team, Villa stands for narrow victories with a difference of just one goal.

The initial disillusionment has subsided and the fans see the chance for their first international title since the European Cup in 1982, when Aston Villa defeated FC Bayern in the Rotterdam final. A Europa League victory would also have another positive side effect: secure participation in the coming Champions League season.