Aston Villa: Unai Emery dreams of winning the European League after reaching the round of 16

Aston Villa are in great shape.

They have won 20 of their last 25 matches (D1, L4) with only Arsenal (21) having won more among teams in Europe’s top five leagues during that period.

Their stumble on Sunday against Everton means they missed the chance to move into second place, four points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal, Emery’s old club.

He made six changes against Fenerbahce and his team dominated, with a score of 1-0 in favor of the 28-time Turkish champions.

After the match, Emery praised his players for “respecting” the competition, adding that he was “very happy” with their reaction.

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 forward, who has not played for United since August 2024, and whose contract with them expires this summer.

“he [Emery] He keeps telling me to be positive every time I play. Every chance I get I will try to give 100% and hope I can achieve the goals.”

Sancho has started just two Premier League matches this season, but in the Europa League he has been in Villa’s starting line-up in each of the past five matches.

Villa have played 12 games since the start of December and, by ensuring a top-eight finish in the league, have avoided a play-off spot in February.

Emery still played striker Ollie Watkins for the full 90 minutes on Thursday, and star midfielder Morgan Rogers for 74 minutes.

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 sidelined with a hamstring problem, also got a late cameo off the bench and is another key player to return.

“[We are] “Building the team under some conditions does not help us,” Emery told TNT Sports.

He added: “But next week we can end the transfer window, and we hope that we can get everything we need to complete the team for the coming months and the competitions that we have.”