Emery hopes Aston Villa can maintain their high level of performance as they embark on their Champions League campaign.

The 2026/27 UEFA Champions League season will kick off, with Aston Villa facing Club Brugge away in the first round. Unai Emery stated that returning to the Champions League is exciting and urged the team to maintain their high level of performance.

Last season, Aston Villa won the UEFA Europa League title after overcoming various challenges and achieved an impressive 4th place finish in the Premier League.

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery said at a press conference, "We are very motivated and excited to participate in this competition, and it is a wonderful thing to be involved in European competitions. We started with the European Championship, then two years ago we participated in the Champions League together, and last season we competed in the Europa League, and we were successful."

"It's really wonderful to be back in the Champions League. We should be proud to be here in this way, having qualified by finishing fourth in the Premier League and winning the European title. But now it's a new chapter, everything is completely different."

Emery shared, "Over the past three years, we have been steadily improving, continuously building and strengthening the team's system. We have created a more solid structure and reached a very high level. We have participated in European competitions and won titles, and we are very satisfied with the level we have performed and the heights we have reached."

The competition needs to be prepared in the best way.

“Our vision remains the same, both for me and the club. We have set a direction for the next few years. Now we need to consider how to maintain this level. We also have some experienced players in our team, such as Buendia, who deserve to stay here. We have also brought in some very experienced new signings, such as Goretzka.”

Emery stated, "We also have some young players from different clubs, including Ganacho, Mbaye, and Jackson. We must get these players into our system and football philosophy as quickly as possible. We will work hard to help them adapt and enable them to play more comfortably and confidently within our system."

"When we had a bad start to the Premier League season last year, we started our European campaign. We played Bologna at home and won the game. After that, we started to improve and won a lot of games. This is a good example and experience that we can use as a lesson."

Furthermore, Emery emphasized, "We must maintain our passion, but we must also be clear that we need to continue to work hard and be prepared for every game. Tomorrow is an away game, and away games are always more difficult. In the past few years, we have experienced many European away games together, including the Europa League three years ago, the Champions League two years ago, and last season's Europa League."

“Being a favorite in European competitions can sometimes be dangerous, so we must respect our opponents and prepare for each match in the best possible way.”

Emery added, "Two years ago, we lost 0-1 to Club Brugge here, and we didn't play well then. These are lessons, and we can use every experience to deeply understand that tomorrow will also be a very difficult game."

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