Emery looks to show Villa can compete with elite

Aston Villa are looking to become the first English team to win at the Nou Camp in almost 20 years. Unai Emery has marked four years at Aston Villa after replacing Steven Gerrard Unai Emery walked into Villa Park four years ago with two clear aims. "My dream is to win a trophy with Aston Villa. It's my challenge," he said at his unveiling in November 2022. "My second dream and my objective could be to play with Aston Villa in Europe. But now, we have to start thinking only the next match because we are not in good position in the table now." Fast-forward to today and Villa will run out at the Nou Camp to face Barcelona in the Champions League on Tuesday night, having won the Europa League in May and with it ending a 30-year trophy drought.

Emery has already achieved his goals, which has led to natural speculation about the next step – with Villa or elsewhere. Villa were angered to the point of threatening legal action when Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher said Emery would want to manage an elite club, with Manchester United admirers. Villa, though, see themselves as a club ready to join the elite – having challenged them in the Premier League and Europe for the past two years – with