Unai Emery outlined his ambitions with Aston Villa for the rest of the campaign.
The Villans are one of the favourites for the Europa League crown, but the head coach continues to commit to excellence in the Premier League. Even with two defeats in their last three league home games, the team still sit in third position in the table, and talk of a title has not completely gone away.
*“I can explain why I am prioritising the Premier League, because there are 38 matches, and we must be consistent – starting in August and finishing in May – because the first objective is through Premier League, is to play in Europe, the Champions League, the Europa League or Conference League, is the competition (that) can give you this objective at the beginning.*
*“Then, to get a trophy is maybe more difficult through Premier League than another competition. FA Cup, Carabao Cup, or Europa League, but how we can feel consistent, how we can get our challenges in 38 matches to get our first objective through Premier League, is the priority.*
*“And then, of course, we lost those two cups, but we are now involving in Europa League, and of course, Europa League is another way for a trophy, and another way to play again in Champions League, in case we are winning, but only one team is winning.*
*“And Premier League, only one team is winning, and we are more or less close with Arsenal, with Man City, but of course, they are favourite, clear favourite, and we have another team behind us.*
*“But, to get Europe, to achieve Europe next year, they are through the Premier League, six, seven, or eight teams getting it. Of course, we want to be one of them.*
“We can win, we can draw, we can lose tomorrow. It’s very, very different, each situation. If we are winning, we are going to feel confident. Firstly, with the teams we have behind us, because the teams behind us, they are trying to get us, because Champions League for those teams is very important.
*“To play Champions League in the next year is very important for those teams, for a lot of things. This is our first objective. Of course, if we are winning tomorrow, we are closer with Arsenal, but how they are performing, how they are showing everybody their power, not only Premier League.*
*“Of course, they draw against Wolves, two days ago, but Wolves is a good team, and we (beat) them here, but we struggled it a lot, and we are playing next week against them, it’s a good example.*
*“And in Champions League, how they are performing and winning matches, I think the power they have now, and the favourites they are now, Arsenal, no doubt.*
*“And then, it’s Man City. City, always, is performing fantastic and being so, so consistent. Of course, we are feeling so, so comfortable, third in the league. We are so, so happy, but we know we must be so, so demanding to keep it, and to dream. To dream in football, and to dream expecting to achieve something important, is very important, and to have this objective or this motivation, I like a lot.”*