Unai Emery makes feelings clear to Aston Villa team with Champions League demand

Aston Villa will meet Club Brugge once more in the Champions League – having already lost to the Belgian side in the group stage – as they enter the last 16 stage of Europe’s premier club competition

Unai Emery says Aston Villa must come of age away from Villa Park if they are to experience a climactic end to their season.

Villa’s boss singled out tonight’s trip to Club Brugge as a ‘key moment’ in the club’s campaign – and called upon his players to deliver a ‘responsible and mature’ performance in Belgium.

Emery took the opportunity before the away leg against one of the competition’s surprise packages to highlight his side’s poor record on their travels. And he said it needs to change – quickly.

He said: “In our last 12 matches away we have lost nine and won three. We haven’t achieved very good results.

“For balance, we are feeling very strong at home. Two defeats in 23 matches – we lost in the Premier League against Arsenal and in the Carabao Cup to Palace. We feel strong and consistent at home – but not away.

“In this competition, we’ve won at Young Boys, lost in Bruges, won in Leipzig and lost to Monaco – two and two. Of course, that was good enough as we got into the top eight – but we have to be better away from home. We need to compete better than we have and we must be stronger and more consistent than we were in Bruges and Monaco.

“This is a key moment in our season. And we have to try to be responsible, mature, and emotionally strong ahead of the second leg.”

Emery said he had watched both of Club Brugge’s ties against Atalanta – and paid tribute to the display of tonight’s opponents – saying that they deserved to win.

The Serie A side won the Europa League last season and just finished outside the top eight, which would have given them a clear passage to the last 16. As it was, the Belgians took their place. And Emery is certainly not underestimating them.

He said: “When they beat us in November, they performed very well – they deserved to win. We lost here, but even losing here, we got to be in the top eight.

“We achieved it ahead of Atalanta, and Bruges played two fantastic matches against them. They deserved to beat them. We know how competitive they are and how they are doing in the Champions League. When we have analysed them, we see a team playing with confidence.

“It’s a really good challenge to play against a team with experience in Europe and they have experience as well. It’s a very important match but we know our capacity and potential.”

Both January window signings Marco Asensio and Marcus Rashford are available to play. Since arriving at Villa Park, they have shown signs of the capabilities that have earned them both such lofty reputations.

Asked if their arrival had lifted Villa, Emery added: “It’s a challenge – we’re always trying to improve the team and the squad with their different qualities.

“We have players with experience in this competition, and usually they are players who are playing at the highest level who will help us a lot.

“The process of adapting to us is going well and is getting better and how we want to use them.

“Football is a collective. It’s how we can help each player in our structure – and for them to help us – we’re not going to get our objective through individual players.”

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