Unai Emery's 'frightening' track record can guide Aston Villa to European glory - Martin Keown, Alan Hutton
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Updated 15/03/2024 at 07:41 GMT
Aston Villa are favourites to win the UEFA Conference League this season due to Unai Emery's track record in European competitions, according to TNT Sports pundits Martin Keown and Alan Hutton. The Premier League side cruised to comfortable 4-0 victory over Ajax to book their place in the quarter-finals of the competition on Thursday. Club captain John McGinn also said they want to go all the way.
Unai Emery
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TNT Sports pundits Martin Keown and Alan Hutton believe that Aston Villa are favourites to win the UEFA Conference League due to Unai Emery's track record.
The Premier League club progressed into the quarter-finals of the competition after they cruised to a 4-0 win over Ajax at Villa Park on Thursday night.
Ollie Watkins grabbed the opening goal in the first half before he had to be substituted due to injury.
Leon Bailey doubled Villa's lead on the hour mark before substitute Jhon Duran and Moussa Diaby struck late on to seal the emphatic win.
Speaking after the game, Keown and Hutton believe that Villa will consider themselves to be one of the frontrunners to win the competition.
"I remember being at games earlier on and I really thought they could do something special in this competition," Hutton said on TNT Sports.
Hutton continued: "You saw what West Ham did last year and Roma as well. They won't tell us this but they'll genuinely believe they can go all the way."
Emery has an excelled record in European competition as a manager.
The Spaniard guided Sevilla to three consecutive UEFA Europa League titles from 2014-16, before winning the same competition in 2021 with Villarreal after beating Arsenal in the semis and Manchester United in the final.
Keown added: "With Emery as your manager and you look at his track record, it's quite frightening the amount of times he's won European competitions. You could see that.
"You could see in his tactical approach, calmness of the team, the composure they had, you could see that comes from a manager that settled them in nicely.
"They controlled things beautifully tonight and I think it was really pleasing to see Duran getting that goal. Great for the squad.
"Big game on the weekend and Ollie Watkins will need to be fit for that. [They're] challenging for the Champions League next season. Massive game coming up against West Ham at the weekend."
It was an important result for Villa after they suffered a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Tottenham in the Premier League, as both clubs chase UEFA Champions League football next season.
They return to league action on the weekend against West Ham and club captain John McGinn believes it was the ideal response from his side.
"Great performance, a good reaction from the weekend," he told TNT Sports. "It stung us. A chance to get a European quarter-finals for the first time in a long time.
"A good night at Villa Park and I'm delighted with some of the players on the scoresheet. A bit of a worry with Ollie Watkins and Diego Carlos - we'll see how they are.
"Its going to lift us definitely. it's been a tough few days. We didn't perform in the big game. Tonight was a big game. A big reaction needed. We showed a reaction.
"It's up there [with his best nights at Villa]. We want to achieve more. Tonight we've given the fans one to remember but we don't want to stop here.
"We didn't want the journey to end tonight. Much better than the last two games for sure. I'm proud of them, it's been a tough few days. They need to rest up for Sunday."
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