Fixtures
- Aston Villa Vs. Juventus – Wed, Nov 27th 2024, 20:00
Unai Emery spoke to the press at Bodymoor Heath on Tuesday afternoon, to preview Wednesday’s visit of Juventus in the UEFA Champions League.
Aston Villa welcome the Italian outfit to Villa Park looking to return to winning ways in the competition, with action to get underway at 8pm.
Emery looked ahead to the clash with members of the local, national and European media…
On focus and motivation…
“We are focusing on each competition because it has been different. We are really happy in the Champions League. We want to enjoy tomorrow with our supporters at Villa Park.
“Tomorrow, Juventus. It is a team with maybe Real Madrid in Spain, Bayern Munich in Germany, PSG in France, and Juventus. They are maybe the better team in the world, historically and now.
“And of course to watch tomorrow here at Villa Park, one match we are going to face tomorrow, is fantastic. Of course we are happy, but we want to compete.
“[Message to supporters] Enjoy it. We want to enjoy competing and we want to enjoy winning. We are here in the Champions League trying to be consistent.
“Now is the moment we have to enjoy, we have to compete, we have to face tomorrow Juventus, we have to try to face them being competitive.”
On new Champions League format…
“I like a lot, this format in the Champions League, because I think a lot of teams, we can have more options to correct some mistakes we can make, playing eight matches.
“Of course, we are watching it, the table. Some teams really being very well as a surprise in the top positions, and some teams not being well with consistency at the moment.
“But of course, normally at the end, the matches played in this competition in the first round in Europe, I think, more or less, maybe some surprise can be consistent, but usually the better teams, they are going to be there.”
On Thiago Motta and Juventus…
“He is as he was as a player. I was with him two years, he was very, very competitive, he was very, very intelligent. He was a top player, skills, physically strong, mentally strong, and now as a coach he has started being successful.
“His progression has been fantastic. Juventus now is in the process of building a team, but competitive. I think they are playing very good football, of course, not yet, all the ideas he wants to set there, but last year with Bologna he had a very good year.
“They are changing something, but they are very, very strong defensively, not only without the ball, but with the ball. They are building a team, they are trying to keep consistency, dominating matches with the ball and then defensively they are being without the ball strong in their positioning and not conceding a lot.
“I appreciated him as a person, I appreciated him as a professional when he was a player, and now I appreciate his work as a manager.
“Tomorrow, Juventus is the favourite in front of us, because they have experiences, they have a really good team, and very good players, and they are favourites to be in the top eight.”
On team news…
“In the squad, we include [Ezri] Konsa and Bouba Kamara for tomorrow. Not [Amadou] Onana, and not [Jacob] Ramsey.”
On expereinces and objectives…
“Last year, we had experiences. Conference League, we enjoyed a lot, the way we did, until the semi-final.
“This year, we are in the Champions League. We want to play a lot of matches, and hopefully we will play until the last month of the season.
“Champions League is the best competition in the world, and we are managing each match being consistent in the preparation, but we are separating each moment, because it is not the same.
“Tomorrow, they are a very important three points, of course, but if we are not winning and only taking one point, it is good.
“In the table, we are in a top eight position and the objective is to be in the next round. We have a possibility to be in a top eight position and we are going to try to get it.”
