Aston Villa manager Unai Emery says the Champions League quarter-final against his former club Paris Saint-Germain will be “special and spectacular,” but he is focused on leading his side to consistent success at Europe’s top level.
Emery will return to Paris for Wednesday’s first leg having managed the newly crowned Ligue 1 champions from 2016 to 2018, leading them to a league title in the 2017-18 season.
The Spaniard, who took charge of Villa in 2022, guided the Birmingham side to their first appearance in Europe’s elite club competition in over four decades and now hopes to extend their impressive run by reaching the semi-finals.
“When I came to Aston Villa it was a challenge. I wanted to win titles, to be in Europe. To be in the Champions League is unbelievable, but to do it consistently is my next challenge,” Emery told reporters on Tuesday.
“To play in Paris, a quarter-final, is something special and spectacular for all of us involved in this club. But we want to be consistent at this level. We are very confident to have chances and to enjoy ourselves.
“What I did here is in my backpack. It’s special for me to be back in Paris, especially because of the circumstances…I’m trying to fulfil my responsibility to the club I’m at, to get the best out of the team, out of the players.”
Emery said he is aware of the strengths of his opponents, who knocked out Liverpool in the previous round, but will be looking to make his squad competitive at the Parc des Princes.
“They’re playing fantastic football. They’re competing, which Luis Enrique’s teams have always done, dominating with superiority in the league and in the Champions League. In the play-off (last 16 game) against Liverpool they have shown enormous power,” he said.
“In the pressing, they are very good with the players they have and they are being so, so aggressive and intense in each action they are doing all over the field. We want to compete and be protagonists on the field.”
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