Unai Emery praised the unwavering loyalty of Aston Villa’s supporters following their narrowly secured victory over Lille in the Europa League.
A stunning header from Ollie Watkins propelled Aston Villa to a 1-0 win in the first leg of their Europa League Round of 16 clash against Lille on Thursday night.
After the match, Emery expressed his gratitude towards the travelling supporters, stating, “Firstly, I’m thankful for our supporters – over 2,500 supporters here with us. This is really very important how they are following us and supporting us, and helping in everything. We felt that today.”
The manager highlighted the challenges faced by English teams in European competitions, noting that “we respect this competition because we know the difficulties of each match: in Europe, away, and how it is for the English teams, like yesterday in the Champions League, how they were struggling.”
Emery continued, emphasizing the competitive nature of the Premier League, saying, “The Premier League is a strong league, and when we are playing away in other countries, they have one challenge more than another challenge they can have.”
Reflecting on the game itself, the Villa boss reported satisfaction with his side’s organization and discipline: “We played very seriously. We were always organised, and we played trying to defend strongly, trying to feel comfortable defending as well, and trying to get some transition with the ball and to dominate with the ball, and we did it.”
Though the team didn’t generate a multitude of chances, Emery noted that they had opportunities that could have extended their lead. “We didn’t create a lot of chances, but some clear chances to score. I’m happy with how the players responded to the game plan we did and how we are respecting and understanding the difficulties we can have, in case we are not playing seriously,” he remarked.
Looking ahead to the second leg, Emery was cautious yet optimistic: “I am happy but we know in the dressing room that it’s the first leg, and this result, one nil, is good, but we are going to play another 90 minutes, respecting them like we did today to play with this result.”
