Unai Emery insisted that Aston Villa's Europa League victory must only be the beginning, as the manager set his sights on competing with Europe's elite. Villa secured a dominant 3-0 win over Freiburg on Wednesday evening, claiming their first major trophy since the League Cup in 1996. However, Emery is determined that this success should not be the peak of their achievements.
Emery rejects 'king of Europa League' tag
Emery, who won the Europa League for a record fifth time, again dismissed the label 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,' he 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 top seven, top five, top four is something very difficult. Hopefully we can be close with teams like City and Arsenal.'
The manager acknowledged the difficulty of breaking into the top echelons of English football. 'It's a huge challenge we have in the Premier League. Why? In the beginning we are not contenders for 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,' Emery explained.
Europa League part of a bigger plan
Winning the Europa League is part of a broader process for Villa. 'Play for Europe, play for trophies,' Emery said, outlining the stages of fulfilling the dream he set out in his introductory press conference. '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 element of Villa's success has been set-piece coach Austin MacPhee. The move that led to Youri Tielemans' opening goal, a ferocious volley, exemplified MacPhee's impact. Captain John McGinn praised the coach: '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'd have been over the bar if it were me!'
Emery also lauded MacPhee's contributions: 'He is 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.'
Martínez reveals broken finger
Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez played through a broken finger sustained during the warm-up. '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.'
Race for Europe: implications of Villa's win
Aston Villa's Europa League victory means that six Premier League teams could qualify for 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 (currently Bournemouth). 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. The side in seventh place will do so either way, with eighth spot earning a Conference League berth, after City won the FA and League Cups and finished in the top four. Chelsea are currently in eighth place but travel to Sunderland on the final day in what looks likely to be a European eliminator. Crystal Palace can also claim a Europa League spot if they win the Conference League final.
