Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has predicted that Tuesday night’s Champions League encounter with Monaco “will be very difficult”, but that his end goal is to finish in “the Top 8 with 19 points”.
“We are very motivated to play in this Champions League, because the club has not played this competition for a long time, said Unai Emery, ex-Paris SG technician, on Monday. Moreover, for me, Europe is “It’s very special. We want to be competitive, and even protagonist of this competition.”
For him, “playing the 7th game with 13 points is good”. “Our goal is already established,” he assured. “But to finish in the top eight, it will take between three and four points. We are aiming for 19 points, even if the most important thing is the way we play in this competition .”
However, he knows “it will be very difficult.” “I have already played there twice with PSG and they won the title that year. Monaco, where there are always very good young people, is a historic club in Europe.”
-“We will have to be 100% focused, because their tactical structure is important, but we will be 100% ready to be competitive,” he assured, after praising the work of ex-Monegasque Youri Tielemans, “ always ready to play and determined to help the team”as well as that of Emiliano Martínez, “always very ambitious to win collective and individual trophies”.
Villa central defender Ezry Konsa, for his part, clarified that the Argentine goalkeeper had “helped him improve” his performances. But above all, the England international praised Emery’s “winning mentality”.
“He wants to win all the big matches and has given me confidence, he explained. Since his arrival, I have started in the national team and made the Euro (debut against Switzerland in the quarter-final, editor’s note) From now on, I want to show my qualities to the new coach.”the German Thomas Tuchel.
