Unai Emery's pedigree keeps growing after latest achievement (qualifying Aston Villa for Champions League)

Spanish tactician Unai Emery guided Aston Villa to a fourth-place finish in the just-concluded 2023/2024 Premier League season.

The former Sevilla boss helped the club to their best finish in the English top flight since the 1995/1996 season. And it was not by chance or luck. Aston Villa played beautiful football, gave some of the Premier League big boys a run for their money, and scored well-crafted goals.

Emery joined the Villains in 2022, three months into the season after they sacked Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard. When Emery took over, Aston Villa had won just three of their first 13 games of the Premier League season. However, he registered 15 wins in the remaining 25 games of the campaign. That was only a sign of more to come.

Emery was building something at the club, as they started to show a certain pattern of play. Moreover, he had something to prove after getting sacked at Arsenal. The team came into their own in the just-concluded Premier League campaign. There were a lot of doubts after they suffered a 5-1 bashing at the hands of Newcastle United in their first game of the season.

However, they bounced back swiftly with a 4-0 bashing of Everton at Villa Park. Then they followed it up with a 3-1 win over Everton at Turf Moor. A key feature about Emery's side is that they were quite consistent with their intensity and style of play. They also matched up with the big boys. With Emery in charge, they defeated Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, and eventual Premier League champions Manchester City. Their performances against big teams saw an increase in the demand for Aston Villa tickets for the 2023/24 Premier League season.

Emery's experience in European football also came to the fore. Recall that the 52-year-old tactician won the Europa League with Sevilla three times and won it with Villarreal three seasons ago. He led Aston Villa to the semi-final of the UEFA Conference League where they shockingly suffered a 6-2 aggregate loss to Greek giants Olympiakos.

How Emery Has Achieved Much With Little

A lot of top managers complain about not getting the money to invest in new players, but Emery has been quite tactful and calculated with his approach. Last summer, Emery brought in Moussa Diaby from Bayer Leverkusen for €55 million, Pau Torres from Villarreal for €33 million, Nicole Zaniolo and Clement Lenglet on loan, and Youri Tielemans for free.

All these players have contributed to Aston Villa's success. Right-winger Diaby has registered six goals and eight assists in 38 league games this season. Emery has been able to manage him and Leon Bailey despite the limited game time for both of them because of competition.

Also, Tielemans has integrated well into the club after dumping Leicester City last summer. Torres has also had a decent campaign, registering 27 starts for the club in the Premier League.

Other players who were at the club before Emery took over also played some of their best football in the just-concluded season. England international Ollie Watkins had enjoyed his best-ever season in terms of goals contributions. He registered 19 goals and 13 assists in 37 Premier League games and five goals in ten Conference League appearances.

Brazilian midfielder Douglas Luiz was amazing in central midfield, he also registered nine goals and five assists in the English topflight, the highest among central midfielders in the league.

Club captain John McGinn has also been integral to how the club operates with his high work rate and doggedness in midfield. Emery has been able to create a working system, which has allowed the players to flourish. And with their qualification for the Champions League, the club will be looking to invest in new players to add some bite to the team and give them more bodies ahead of the next season, which will be very demanding.

Can Emery defeat his demons and reach a new high with Villa?

Emery is an expert in winning the UEFA Europa League, and his four winning medals are enough proof of that. However, he has never enjoyed success in the holy grail- the Champions League. The farthest he has reached in the competition is the semi-final which he reached with Villarreal two seasons ago. Aside from that, his six other sojourns in the competition ended in the round of 16 or the group stage.

For a manager of his status, who has won the Europa League four times, one would expect that Emery's record will be better, especially as he had a star-studded PSG side that had world beaters like Kylian Mbappe, Edinson Cavani, Angel Di Maria, Neymar, Adrien Rabiot, Thiago Silva, and Marco Verratti. Still, the highest he could achieve with these players was a round-of-16 finish.

Aston Villa will be competing in the Champions League for the first time since 1982/1983, and it will be the first season with the new format. Realistically, Aston Villa do not seem like they will win the competition, but with their quality, a quarterfinal finish would be quite decent.

Moreover, Emery has shown that he can pull the chestnut out of the fire. A classic example was when he defeated Bayern Munich with Villarreal to qualify for the Champions League semi-final two seasons ago. Even his fourth-place finish with Villa in the just-concluded Premier League is also a massive achievement.

Having now signed a new five-year contract with the club, Emery has urged Villa to aim for even bigger heights, saying: “As we move into our historic, 150th anniversary year, there is a lot to look forward to with Unai at the helm.”

“There’s a great chemistry in Aston Villa. And the element of the fans’ support also makes the difference in feeling at home. We are excited to continue this journey with no limits to our dreams.”

If Emery reaches the quarterfinal finish with Aston Villa in the Champions League and still finishes in the top four in the Premier League next season, it would be termed a good campaign for the Spaniard. And there is a possibility that he could move to a bigger club afterwards.