Aston Villa manager Unai Emery may not believe his side are Premier League title contenders, but he is “dreaming” of Europa League glory after reaching the last 16.
Villa beat Fenerbahce 1-0 in Türkiye to ensure they finish in the top eight in the league stage with one match remaining.
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On Sunday, the Spaniard warned that Villa “not among the top five contenders” after they lost 1-0 at home against Everton.
If Villa finish outside the top four in the Premier League – or the top five if England secure an extra qualifying place – their only hope of winning the Champions League next season will be to win the Europa League.
Former Sevilla, Arsenal and Paris St-Germain manager Emery has won the Europa League four times as manager, most recently with Villarreal in 2021, and was in charge of his 100th match in the competition on Thursday.
He told the media “we have clear objectives in this competition: to claim the trophy” after his team’s victory in Istanbul.
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“(We want) to be a contender in case we need this trophy to play in the Champions League. Thanks to our championship it is very difficult,” he added.
“I dream of being here winning trophies and Europe is one of our goals this year.”
Despite being the seventh most successful club in English football in terms of trophies won, Villa’s last piece of major silverware was the League Cup in 1996.
It’s good to have a supportive manager – Sancho
Aston Villa are in superb form.
They have won 20 of their last 25 matches (D1 L4), with only Arsenal (21) having more wins among teams in Europe’s big five leagues during that period.
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Their failure on Sunday against Everton meant they missed the chance to move up to second, four points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal, Emery’s former club.
He made six changes against Fenerbahce and his side dominated, with a 1-0 scoreline flattering the 28-time Turkish champions.
After the match, Emery praised his players for “respecting” the competition, adding that he was “so, so happy” with their response.
Villa’s match-winner Jadon Sancho scored his first goal for the club in his 19th appearance since joining on loan from Manchester United in September.
“It’s good to have a manager who supports you and obviously believes in you,” said the 25-year-old striker who has not played for United since August 2024 and whose contract with them expires this summer.
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“He (Emery) keeps telling me to be positive every time I play. Every time I get the chance, I’m going to try to do it 100% and hopefully I can achieve my goals.”
Sancho has only started two Premier League matches this season, but in the Europa League he has been in Villa’s starting line-up for each of their last five matches.
Villa have played 12 times since the start of December and, by securing a top-eight place in the league stage, avoided a home-and-away play-off in February.
Emery again faced striker Ollie Watkins for 90 minutes on Thursday and star midfielder Morgan Rogers for 74 minutes.
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He was also able to give Tyrone Mings his first start since November, after the defender recovered from a thigh injury.
Amadou Onana, who was absent with a hamstring problem, also made a late appearance off the bench and is another key returning player.
“(We) are building the team with some circumstances that don’t help us,” Emery told TNT Sports.
“But next week we can finish the transfer window and hopefully we can get everything we need to complete the squad for the next few months and the competitions we have.”
