Aston Villa’s Champions League dream depends on Unai Emery exorcising his greatest ghost

In weeks like this, Unai Emery immerses himself so much in match preparation that it’s almost impossible to turn his mind to anything else. He will always have another video to watch. As much as Emery brings these games down to their purest football elements – and almost because he’s such a gentleman – it’s still impossible not to wonder whether he will be motivated by one barb that is still said at Paris Saint-Germain.

That is that he is no more than “a Europa League manager” and “a level below a top coach”. They are stances from senior club figures that have informed wider commentary on Emery’s career, including on these pages.

Now, this “Europa League manager” stands in PSG’s way for that elusive Champions League title. Emery is, of course, aiming to get there himself and accomplish a feat that would arguably mean more to him and Aston Villa. It would certainly vindicate opinions at Villa Park and beyond that he very much is a top coach.

This would be the ultimate proof. He can show PSG what they have missed, in a few senses. He can show them how he really works in European knock-outs, which players like Arnaut Danjuma consider to be Emery’s “genius”. PSG only got to see it in the context of two last-16 eliminations, after all.

Even if the coach isn’t bothered by any of that, there is a potent symbolism to the Villa manager facing this specific former club for his current club’s most important match in over 40 years. Emery can exorcise a ghost, which is the one that has most haunted his career.

That is the game now just known as la remontada, the comeback: 8 March 2017, Barcelona 6-1 PSG. It only adds to this 2024-25 quarter-final that PSG’s current manager is Luis Enrique who was Barcelona’s coach back then. The full scale of that night is covered here, and it remains the worst ever collapse in the competition. These days, those at PSG say Emery “didn’t leave good memories”, and is ultimately just seen as “the man who lost against Barcelona”. They don’t expect a particularly warm welcome from the fans, and there may even be some hostility from the ultras.

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One senior club source talks of how the 6-1 created “a trauma”, that PSG took a long time to recover from. Some blame that for a series of similar Champions League collapses, such as to Manchester United and Real Madrid.

The obvious counterpoint is that the club culture conditioned this, rather than Emery, and that it’s hardly out of keeping with their Qatar era. Chelsea achieved a two-goal comeback to eliminate PSG as early as 2013-14.

That spell is generally out of keeping with Emery’s wider career, though. His time at PSG formed the only European seasons where the Basque didn’t win a knock-out tie. Seventeen months at Spartak Moscow could admittedly be included there, except Emery suffered a Champions League group-stage elimination and then a Europa League qualifying defeat to St Gallen. The Russian club had many complicating factors beyond his management, however.

In general, knock-out ties have been an Emery speciality. He has won 35 of 44 over 17 years. Since 38 of those were in the Europa League, which he won four times, it is true that doesn’t necessarily construe Champions League effectiveness.

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There, Emery’s record is mixed, if also circumstantial. He has two group-stage eliminations, two last-16 – both with PSG – and one semi-final prior to this season.

The best of those was the last, however, and it was made all the more impressive given it came with Villarreal. They even eliminated Julian Nagelsmann’s Bayern Munich in the 2021-22 quarter-finals, for what seemed the clearest illustration of how Emery’s approach has evolved.

In truth, even the Basque’s more reactive instincts always suited European knock-outs. He has been like prime Jose Mourinho or Rafa Benitez in clearly having an aptitude for detailed single gameplans. Villarreal’s Gerard Moreno speaks of how Emery “analyses the opposition to perfection”.

It’s another reason why that Barcelona game was so out of keeping with his career. A coach who always prepares thoroughly was accused of not preparing well. PSG figures felt he was too complacent due to the 4-0 first-leg lead and consequently came up with the wrong tactic, while setting the wrong tone for the players. Mere minutes into the second leg, as Luis Suarez scored, PSG staff could already see their entire gameplan “crumbling” amid pure fear.

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You only have to compare that to the confidence Villarreal displayed against Bayern. Even after the 1-0 first-leg win, Danjuma felt assured enough to talk about how blown away he was by Emery’s gameplan, as he almost strained not to give away details before the second leg.

“I can assure you that Unai is a tactical mastermind,” the forward said. “His strategy always seems to work for us.” It certainly did in Munich, with Villarreal immediately surprising Bayern by playing in tight triangles high up the pitch. Nagelsmann’s players didn’t know where to go. Such an assertive approach is a clear illustration of Emery’s evolution from a more reactive game. There were still sufficient signs from past glories, and particularly what was probably his finest ever European performance.

That was the 2016 Europa League victory over Liverpool, where Emery was conscious that Sevilla may not match a Jurgen Klopp team for energy. Feeling that Sevilla had superior technique, though, Emery sought to maximise that by creating mini overloads out wide and gradually moving up the pitch through such interchanges. It was how they got the key equaliser in a 3-1 win, and broke Liverpool’s pressing.

That’s where the manner he immerses himself in preparation is so important. The only questions have been how he has then used such preparation, and whether he has occasionally been too reactive for the top level, or quite had command of stars.

It is at least conspicuous that the Sevilla and Villarreal squads looked up to him, while Villa are a team he has honed. By contrast, those at PSG say he never had the trust of the big players, who didn’t believe he could help them win the Champions League - the only thing they came for. The immersion in tactics was almost part of the problem, since they felt he didn’t concentrate enough on personality management.

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Perhaps that’s the wrong way to look at it, though. PSG still haven’t won the Champions League, and one of the main reasons they look strong candidates now is because they have finally dispensed with that “Galactiques” system – the Messi-Mbappe-Neymar trio never worked out for them.

Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio are meanwhile two stars who have responded very positively to his management. That might be because they have come into Emery’s group, where he has full control. When speaking about Sevilla in the past, and the general development of teams, he said “if you can grow, it’s very gratifying”.

Emery himself might have done exactly that. This tie might be more proof. One thing is already certain. Emery will have spotted something in 12-plus hours of analysing PSG. He will have a gameplan. He can yet subject PSG to more bad memories, while creating a new legacy.