Pau Torres exclusive: Aston Villa defender says he 'needed' to be reunited with Unai Emery

Paul Torres has exclusively told TNT Sports that he had to sign for Aston Villa last summer - just so he could work under Unai Emery again.

The pair first crossed paths at Villarreal, winning the UEFA Europa League title in 2020-21.

They were split up when Emery swapped Estadio de la Ceramica for Villa Park in October 2022, replacing Steven Gerrard as the Villains' manager.

The boss soon raided his former team to bring the defender to England though, and they are now targeting further continental honours together, with the club through to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa Conference League, where they will play Lille, live on TNT Sports and discovery+.

Torres says when Emery came calling, it was an easy decision to make the move.

"Unai wants the players to believe in his ideas, in his football," he told TNT Sports. "You need to work every day in your high level if you want to play for an Unai team.

"When he left Villarreal to come here, at the end of the season, I needed again one coach in my career who was pushing me every day, so I needed to come back with Unai to improve my level again. Now, I'm really, really happy to work with him here.

"This is my first season here in Aston Villa and the team-mates make it all very easy. They help me in everything, and as well for me it was important to know the coach, Unai, and his staff.

"Because I worked with them in Villarreal and it gives me confidence. For me, it's special to be here.

"It's another step in my career, and I think we are doing a really good work this season. We are improving the results of last season for Aston Villa and now we are in the last one and a half months and we are fighting for very good things."

Aston Villa have not won a trophy since lifting the 1995-96 League Cup under Brian Little.

They are no strangers to continental glory though, having won the European Cup back in 1981-82, famously defeating Bayern Munich in the final.

Their Europa Conference League campaign this year has been an exceptional one, finishing top of the their group with 13 points from six games, before beating Ajax 4-0 over two legs in their first knockout tie.

That has left fans dreaming of finally tasting glory again, and Torres hopes his past success in the Europa League will stand him in good stead.

"I try to go to every game in the same way," he continued. "We have less time to recover [than after a Premier League game].

"We prepare very similar, but knowing that in the Premier League, you have options to lose a game and go back the next week... here in Europe, it's different.

"You can't lose a player or you can't have a red card in minute 20, because you need to keep all the team focused in the two legs. In every moment, the game can change.

"One action can decide the result. You haven't got the opportunity in two weeks to have a solution for this. You need to be really, really focused.

"You need to be calming in the game, always being focused on the game plan, always ready for the decisions of Unai, because at the end, you can only play 11 players, and we need all the team focused and fighting for the same."

The match will pit Torres up against Lille's Jonathan David.

The striker has been one of the most prolific in Europe in recent years, and has scored 20 goals for his club this campaign, including 12 in his last 11 outings.

"For me, as a player, I always want to play against the best players," Torres concluded. "I think he is doing a really good season and really good work, scoring many, many goals.

"I want to beat him and I want to play against the best. For me, now, he is one of the best strikers in Ligue 1, so we are excited.

"They are playing 4-3-3. We know how they prefer to attack. They have speed and power in their attack to attack our behind, so we need to be very focused on our back line, and then they have young players.

"They are doing really good work this season. We need to keep focus in the 90 minutes in Villa Park and the 90 minutes in France."

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