MADRID, 14 Apr. (SportsFinding) –
Villarreal made it to the semifinals of the Champions League on Tuesday for the second time in their history after eliminating Bayern Munich thanks to their victory (1-0) at La Cerámica and a hard-fought draw (1-1) in the Allianz Arena, in a tie in which Unai Emery shone again, who, as he did with Sevilla, raises a Spanish team to its best performance with a clear identity and philosophy.
The Gipuzkoan had a pending account with the Champions League, since not only had he never been able to get past the round of 16, but he had been the victim of harsh comebacks when he directed a ‘transatlantic’ like PSG. However, he has now achieved it with the least expected squad and leaving renowned rivals on the way.
First it was Juventus, storming the Allianz Stadium, and then, above all, the almighty Bayern for Villarreal to return to the penultimate round of Europe’s top competition 16 years later. English Liverpool will measure the height of their dream and ambition on the biggest stage of European club football where their scoreboard and their ability to analyze will try to stop the ‘rock and roll’ of another strategist like Juergen Klopp and, perhaps, settle the whole account pending with the Champions.
After passing through Lorca, Almería, Valencia and Spartak Moscow, Emery began his fruitful stage at Sevilla FC in 2013. In his first year he was only able to classify the Andalusian team in ninth place, but the sanctions against Málaga and Rayo Vallecano allowed Hispalenses play the Europa League the following season, an opportunity that the coach would not miss.
And it was in his second season in Seville that his love affair with that competition began, reaching the final and beating Benfica on penalties. In the following course he managed to retain the European title by beating the Ukrainian Dnipro 2-3 in the final round. A victory that allowed him to qualify for the Champions League, but his performance was not as expected and he was unable to overcome a tough group with Manchester City and Juventus, so he was picked up for the Europa League.
A first experience with the highest European competition that did not leave Emery very well, who would take time to establish a positive link with the Champions League. Something that did exist with the second continental competition, which he would win in his fourth season as Sevilla’s bench, beating a favorite Liverpool (3-1) to lift his third consecutive Europa League, an unprecedented event to date.
HE IS THE ONLY COACH WITH FOUR EUROPE LEAGUE TROPHIES
His great performance in Europe with the Nervión team caught the attention of the PSG leaders, who saw in Emery the perfect coach to achieve their long-awaited goal: the Champions League. But his time in Paris will be remembered for being the coach who suffered the comeback from 6-1 at the Camp Nou, despite beating Barça 4-0 in the first leg of the round of 16 at the Parc des Princes. An advantage that he was unable to defend, in a match in which he was greatly outmatched by the Catalans.
Very similar script for his second season at PSG (2017-2018). Again a cross against a Spanish team in the round of 16, this time Real Madrid. Already with Neymar and Mbappé in their ranks, Emery’s men lost both games of the tie, and saw their European dream vanish again.
Two consecutive failures that ended up burying Emery in another project unable to achieve great results in the Champions League at the hands of the Basque, who he saw as his great opportunity to finally obtain recognition on the continent, with a squad full of stars, It was gone in the worst possible way.
EMERY WANTS TO TRANSFER HIS SUCCESS IN THE EUROPE LEAGUE TO THE CHAMPIONS
Nor did he have the option of playing in the Champions League in his experience in England with Arsenal. Successor to a myth like Arsène Wenger, the Irundarra was left with the desire to play a worthy role in the Champions League due to his poor results in the Premier. He was able to take the London team to the final of ‘his’ Europa League, but there he fell with a crash to Chelsea 4-1. Months later, the Basque coach was dismissed at Arsenal.
With those loads and the ‘thorn’ still stuck, Emery was ready to return to Spanish football at the hands of Villarreal, a team to which he entrusted all his effort and knowledge to develop a project that could fight in Europe. And already in his first year he showed his conditions leading the ‘Yellow Submarine’ to make history with their first title, the Europa League against Manchester United and after eliminating Arsenal in the semifinals. It was his fourth title in this competition, a mark that no coach in history has achieved.
Then he coached Chelsea in the European Super Cup and showed Europe that Villarreal was ready to give ‘war’. Now, it is the basis of a project with strong foundations, which rubs shoulders with the largest on the continent and will have the opportunity to fight, finally, for the Champions League and leave behind all the complexes of past negative experiences.