Unai Emery insists Aston Villa won’t have failed if they miss out on Europa League glory despite being the favourite to win it before the semi-finals.
The Premier League side, who are poised for a return to the Champions League, had been eyeing European glory but need to overturn a first-leg deficit against fellow English side Nottingham Forest, who won 1-0 at the City Ground.
Emery has a stunning record in the Europa League having won it four times – three with Sevilla and then again with Villarreal. He also reached a final with Arsenal but must first negotiate Forest before he can dream of a fifth success.
The final will be against either Braga or Freiburg. Villa finished second in the group phase, winning seven of their eight games, and have long been fancied to go all the way.
Forest are a team fighting relegation and are 16 points behind Villa in the Premier League. Downing the Midlands outfit would be a shock but Emery insists Villa won’t see it as a defeat if they don’t claim the trophy.
He said: “To achieve the semi-final is a huge achievement. Winning a trophy is very difficult. Very, very, very difficult. It’s not a defeat if we are not achieving a trophy.”
The Spaniard also claimed: “We will have after tomorrow our way to set more challenges for the present or future. I don’t think tomorrow is the last opportunity for us or for anyone. The players of course they are enjoying the process we are doing. They are aware about the difficulties of football, but how the greatest moment we are having here in Aston Villa the last three years and we can smile and be proud of everything.
View 2 ImagesChris Wood’s goal downed Aston Villa a week ago(Image: Naomi Baker/UEFA)
“But of course we are still so, so demanding, so, so consistent with everything we are doing. It’s not going to break anything in our thinking, our process, how things are improving.”
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Emery has even gone as far as to claim that Forest, who beat Chelsea on Monday, are favourites despite the second-leg being at Villa Park. Villa endured less than ideal preparation as they were beaten by Tottenham.
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