Unai Emery boasts an impressive record in the Europa League, securing three titles with Sevilla and one with Villarreal.
A week, as the saying goes, is a lifetime in football – a decade, then, an epoch.
It marks exactly ten years since Aston Villa suffered relegation to the Championship, the second tier of English football, for the first time since 1987, following a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Manchester United.
That loss represented their ninth consecutive league defeat during a dismal 13-game winless streak, culminating in a forgettable 2015-16 season. The 1982 European Cup champions faced an uncertain future under American owner Randy Lerner.
Villa subsequently spent three seasons in the Championship before finally securing promotion back to the Premier League for the 2019-20 campaign. However, the club continued to struggle for direction until the arrival of Unai Emery.
Now, fast forward to this past Thursday, and a compelling argument can be made that Villa have once again ascended to the echelons of European football.
A dominant 7-1 aggregate victory over Bologna secured their place in the Europa League semi-finals with relative ease at Villa Park. This achievement, remarkably, was met with a sense of expectation, underscoring the transformative progress under Emery, who has elevated the club’s standards in recent seasons.
This marks Villa’s second European semi-final appearance in three seasons under the Spanish manager, following a Conference League run in 2023-24, and follows a Champions League quarter-final appearance last season.
“If someone had told me a couple of years ago that we’d be competing for Champions League qualification and in a Europa League semi-final, I’d have snapped their hand off,” commented Ollie Watkins, who scored three goals across the two legs against Bologna.
“So we are just trying to take it all in and enjoy the process,” Villa’s latest member of the 100-goal club told TNT Sports.
The club is also firmly entrenched in the Premier League’s top-five race, currently occupying fourth place with six games remaining and targeting a Champions League return via league position.
As a European semi-final against Nottingham Forest now looms, the despair of relegation from a decade ago seems a distant memory, replaced by a sense of renewed optimism and a “new normal” under Emery.
“Villa were perfect tonight. Every player played their part, and they are deservedly going through to the semi-final,” remarked former midfielder Stiliyan Petrov to TNT Sports.
“They fully deserve to enjoy this moment as they worked really hard. It is about believing and I think these players do now believe that they can make it to that final.”
Ollie Watkins joined Aston Villa from Brentford in 2020.
Emery succeeded Steven Gerrard as Villa manager in October 2022, with the club languishing just above the relegation zone on goal difference.
The former Arsenal and Villarreal boss brought his own backroom staff, leading to the departure of several long-serving members of the previous regime.
Former Sevilla goalkeeper Monchi also joined as Villa’s president of football operations in June 2023, reuniting with Emery after their successful partnership at Sevilla, which yielded three Europa League titles.
Emery’s impact was immediate, instilling structure, clarity, and belief in a Villa side that was once again flirting with relegation. He guided them to a top‑seven finish and European qualification in his first season.
The following campaign reinforced the notion that the progress was no accident.
Transforming Villa Park into a fortress, they established themselves as top‑four contenders during the 2023-24 season while also reaching the semi-finals of the Conference League, where they were defeated 6-2 on aggregate by Olympiakos.
“The first year we got here in the Conference League, a lot of us hadn’t played in Europe so when we got to the latter stages there was a lot of pressure,” Watkins said.
“Each year we’ve learned and taken something from it. And to trust the manager because he’s so experienced in this competition. He’s won it numerous times so we believe in what he tells us and keep going.”
A first taste of top-tier European competition since 1982-83 came last season when they reached the Champions League quarter-finals against Emery’s former side Paris St-Germain.
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.
And this season’s run on the continental stage further underlines their upward trajectory under the Spaniard.
“It’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,” Watkins said.
“We’re really enjoying being in this competition and this is where we want to be, in the semi-finals.”
Emery told TNT Sports: “I’m very happy. We were organised and tried to impose our ideas and style, which is not easy against Bologna.”
“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.”
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Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest will meet in the Europa League semi-final
Villa are under no illusions about the challenge ahead as they head into the semi-final against Forest as tournament favourites.
Forest earned their place in their first European semi-final since1984 with a 1-0 win against 10-man Porto in the second leg.
Despite Forest being involved in a relegation battle domestically, Villa know their opponents’ resilience first hand having been held to a 1-1 draw by Vitor Pereira’s side last weekend.
“It’s a really exciting time for me personally and the team collectively,” said Watkins, who scored his 100th goal for the club in all competitions on Thursday.
We’ve come out the sticky period and we’ve got it all to play for. But it’s going to be difficult.
“We’ve played [Forest] twice already this season and it’s not been easy. But we focus on each game and enjoy the process.”
Emery also echoed Watkins’ caution when looking ahead to the all-English last-four contest.
“Now we will play in a semi-final and it will be very difficult against Forest,” he said.
The first leg of their last-four tie against Forest will be played in Nottingham on 30 April before the return leg in Birmingham on 7 May.
Win that, and a European final in Istanbul awaits against either Portugal’s Braga face Bundesliga side Freiburg on 20 May.
And Forest will very much fancy their chances to end a 30-year trophy drought in the Turkish city and add to their 1982 European triumph, under Emery who has already won the competition four times before.
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