The Villarreal CF head coach underlined his pride at the team’s UEFA Europa League journey
Villarreal CF head coach Unai Emery appeared in front of the media this Wednesday, during the ‘Media Day’ in the build-up to the UEFA Europa League final on 26th May in Gdansk (Poland).
A strong journey in Europe
“We deserve to be here. We’re proud and pleased with our UEFA Europa League journey. We’ve been serious and reliable during the whole tournament. The competition has rewarded that good work. We were first in the group stage and we have reached the final.”
Manchester United one of the favourites for the tournament
“Manchester United were the favourite to win this tournament and they’ve managed to reach the final. There were other teams who were favourites and haven’t done so. We have always seen ourselves as a candidate, with the capability of reaching the final.”
The best version of Villarreal to compete in Gdansk
“We need to trust ourselves. We are going from a two-legged tie to a one-legged game. We will try and impose our best version. We will need to prepare the game well and study the opposition.”
Two final games with a lot up for grabs
“The most important game has always been the next one. LaLiga has given us consistency and our main aim was to qualify for European competitions next season. We were not able to fight for the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Europa League was our main aim and we still have chances to do that, and final, the UEFA Europa Conference League is a new competition you can’t discredit. In the Europa League, we have the chance to fight for a title and compete in the Champions League, through LaLiga we haven’t been able to do so. In these moments, the Europa League gives us an ambitious objective and LaLiga gives us chances to reach our main aim.”
A Schedule change to have more rest ahead of the Europa League
“We will compete on Saturday against Real Madrid. It’s not in our hands, but we will try and get a good result. It’s fair that they’ve changed the match to Satuday. Having a day more to rest is important, and we deserve it because we’re representing LaLiga in Europe.”
