Emery Plays Down ‘King’ Tag Ahead of Europa League Final Showdown

Unai Emery has rejected suggestions he is the “king” of the Europa League as Aston Villa prepare to face SC Freiburg in the final in Istanbul.

Villa head into the clash on the back of strong form, including an impressive 4–2 victory over Liverpool FC, with fans buoyed by the team’s momentum as they chase a first major trophy in three decades.

Softfootball understands that Despite his remarkable record winning the competition three times with Sevilla FC and once with Villarreal CF Emery insisted past success will not influence the outcome.

Speaking ahead of the final in a recent press conference shared via the club’s official YouTube channel, he emphasized that this is a new chapter, stating that previous achievements count for little when facing a determined Freiburg side.

He highlighted Villa’s recent European progress, including deep runs in both the Conference League and Champions League, as proof of the squad’s ability to compete at the highest level.

I am now with Aston Villa in a new chapter and everything I did is done. It’s there in that moment, but with it I am not winning tomorrow. I need to win tomorrow with the players we have now, with Aston Villa now, with the opponent we face tomorrow.

So it’s a new way, a new moment and hopefully a new era. I don’t want to speak a lot about the thing we did before. Now, this year, and the matches we played before in the Conference League or in the Champions League, and they are showing the capacity to play at a high level.

Now it’s a new experience we will have tomorrow. It’s very important how we manage our emotions and we’ve done it for a lot of matches and there are a lot of emotions.

The pressure is here as well, but we must try to understand the pressure like something positive, not negative. And the pressure is when you are playing for something important. And of course we have experience here.

The Spaniard underlined the importance of focusing on the present, stressing that victory will depend on the current group of players delivering on the night rather than relying on historical success.

watch full video;

With the final set to take place in Istanbul, Villa have the opportunity to crown a remarkable European campaign, while Emery looks to guide the club into a new era of success.