{"id":56299,"date":"2026-04-16T23:34:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T23:34:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/?p=56299"},"modified":"2026-04-16T23:34:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T23:34:12","slug":"c3ex2w04kd0oat_mediumrssat_campaignrss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/2026\/04\/16\/c3ex2w04kd0oat_mediumrssat_campaignrss\/","title":{"rendered":"Aston Villa: How Unai Emery turned spectacular European nights into Villa&#8217;s new normal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Emery replaced Steven Gerrard as Villa manager in October 2022 with Villa hovering just above the relegation zone on goal difference.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The former Arsenal and Villarreal boss brought with him his own backroom staff, with many of the old guard departing. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Former Sevilla goalkeeper Monchi also joined as Villa&#8217;s president of football operations in June 2023 &#8211; having previously worked with Emery at Sevilla and winning three Europa League titles together.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Emery immediately made an impact, imposing structure, clarity and belief on a Villa side that was once again flirting with relegation to guide them to a top\u2011seven finish and European qualification in his first season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The following campaign proved the progress was no fluke. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Turning Villa Park into a fortress, they established themselves as a top\u2011four contender during 2023-24 while also reaching the semi-finals of the Conference League, where they were beaten 6-2 on aggregate by Olympiakos. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;The first year we got here in the Conference League, a lot of us hadn&#8217;t played in Europe so when we got to the latter stages there was a lot of pressure,&#8221; Watkins said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;Each year we&#8217;ve learned and taken something from it. And to trust the manager because he&#8217;s so experienced in this competition. He&#8217;s won it numerous times so we believe in what he tells us and keep going.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">A first taste of top-tier European competition since 1982-83 came last season when they reached the Champions League quarter-finals against Emery&#8217;s former side Paris St-Germain. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">And on their way to the last eight, they posted memorable league-stage wins against Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig while also holding Juventus to a goalless draw. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">And this season&#8217;s run on the continental stage further underlines their upward trajectory under the Spaniard. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;It&#8217;s an amazing achievement for us to progress to the semi-finals and to go one step further than last year in the Champions League,&#8221; Watkins said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;We&#8217;re really enjoying being in this competition and this is where we want to be, in the semi-finals.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Emery told TNT Sports: &#8220;I&#8217;m very happy. We were organised and tried to impose our ideas and style, which is not easy against Bologna.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;We are so happy with the way we are performing in this competition. It was fantastic. We are in the semi-finals, but there is still work to do.&#8221; <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n#Aston #Villa #Unai #Emery #turned #spectacular #European #nights #Villas #normal<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Emery replaced Steven Gerrard as Villa manager in October 2022 with Villa hovering just above the relegation zone on goal&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":56300,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mzansi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56299"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56299\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56301,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56299\/revisions\/56301"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}