Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has been speaking to the media before Tuesday’s Champions League game against Bologna (kick-off 20:00).
Here are the key lines from his news conference:
Emery says it is “a challenge everyday and every match we are playing” to keep consistency in both the Premier League and Champions League.
He added: “Getting the balance is the most important. Bologna is a new challenge to keep the same mentality and same performance and same preparation for the match.”
Emery said the return of players like Boubacar Kamara, Emi Buendia and Tyrone Mings is “very important” for playing multiple competitions: “Now is the moment we have to be intelligent with good preparation for everyone to try and help us be consistent over 90 minutes, 90 minutes and 90 minutes. I need to be critical of myself and how the players can be consistent physically and mentally playing the amount of matches we are.”
He added: “The mentality is to keep the same level as last year in the Premier League and same level we can have in Champions League. Champions league is more demanding than the Conference League and I am very proud of the work we are doing.”
On how he reflects on the past two years in charge: “The most important thing for us is how we are increasing our demands and facing more demands each year. The challenge is to get better everyday. We need to keep the same level we have now and keep it for a long time. It is difficult to do this when achieving objectives at a high level. We are working hard to keep this.”
He added: “I don’t want to waste my time here. You can waste your time here but we don’t want to waste time here. My objective here individually is to keep the same level now being in the Champions League and to add to it by being a contender for a trophy.”
Emery hopes against Bologna that they carry on showing “where we are, that we believe, that we can compete”.
After defender Matty Cash said the sky is the limit, the Villa boss added: “We need to be strong in our mind to get a strong mentality to break barriers, always.”
On facing their Italian opponents: “They played a fantastic match against Liverpool and deserved more against them. They have been competing in the same way. Because they only have one point [in Champions League] it is difficult for us because they want points like we need points. We are respecting them a lot, but trying to play tomorrow in the same way we have.”
