Unai Emery underlined that the team need to enjoy the tie and be competitive to make history against Arsenal FC (Thursday, 9pm CEST)
Villarreal CF head coach Unai Emery appeared remotely in front of the media, accompanied by midfielder Manu Trigueros, ahead of the big match corresponding to the second leg of the UEFA Europa League semi-finals against Arsenal FC (Thursday, 9pm CEST).
Continuity from the first leg
“We’re in a nice moment. In the Europa League, we’ve had a good journey. We’ve been mature, solid and consistent in every tie. We want to do that again. Our aim is to build on the first leg.”
Know how to enjoy the tie
“We want to enjoy the moment and the game. We’re ready for whatever can happen in the game. The journey is the nice part. The win is win is fleeting. We want to enjoy getting things right and know how to dig in.”
Arsenal, favourites; Villarreal, contenders
“We’re playing against a historic club. A top team. We have experienced and mature players. They are favourites, we are candidates. We’ve shown that we can compete against teams like this. Based on respect for the competition and the opposition, we go into the game full of excitement, but also ambition.”
A more dangerous Gunners side than in the first leg
“I expect Arsenal to be at their best. From there, we need to know how to compete and show off the best version of ourselves. They’re a team who link up well, they have players who are comfortable on the ball, who know how to run into space. They also have important players coming back. I’m expecting Arsenal to be at their best individually and collectively.”
Identity and control
“We’re going into the game with the idea of being ourselves, and when we need to dig in, try and win the duels, be solid in covers and fight with them for the control of the game. I think we will see a more dangerous Arsenal side than in the first leg. We want to show personality, a clear identity and to be competitive.”
Pride and excitement ahead of a historic opportunity
“To the fans, I will say that it is going to be very difficult, but we are ready to face that difficulty. We want to enjoy the tie. We are going with all the excitement of the fans and we can promise them that we will play with pride, we know that we’re defending this club’s beautiful history. Tomorrow, we have a historic chance and we will face it with our all and the desire to reach a final.”
