Unai Emery remaining calm as Aston Villa mark UCL return with 3-0 Young Boys win

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Unai Emery remaining calm as Aston Villa mark UCL return with 3-0 Young Boys win  17/09/2024  UEFA24  Wankdorf Stadium, Switzerland

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00:00Good evening. Yes, of course. We are tired to follow. 42 years ago they achieved their

00:12last victory in the Champions League and won the trophy. And of course we want to dedicate

00:19this victory for Gary Shaw, his family and for all the support of Aftonbilla, all the

00:26family of Aftonbilla. And we are going to try to get in our way, following. In that

00:35moment they achieved it.

00:39Can you just give us your thoughts on the team's performance? Young boys come at you

00:46for the first ten minutes but then you were sort of in control for the rest of the match.

00:51We were adapting at the beginning of the match as well to the pitch. It was not easy for

00:55the players. The control is very different when you are playing a normal pitch. And we

01:02were losing some balls. We were considering then to get with long balls a connection.

01:09They were attacking the left side more than the right side. And we considered two or three

01:14faults. But we defended well and Emiliano was doing his work, saving some options as

01:21well. And progressively we were feeling better on the pitch. We were progressively getting

01:27their box, creating some chances and we scored in set pieces. And after it we were feeling

01:33confident. And in the second half more or less we were following the same performance

01:40that we had in the first half. We struggled maybe ten minutes in the second half but again

01:50we recovered our positioning and we were in control of the game. Defensively as well good.

01:55We didn't concede nothing and we scored another two goals. But it's very, very important how

02:02we got it. It's respecting the opponent and playing, being responsible, the players, mature,

02:12organised and imposing through it the game.

02:20Unai, what were your thoughts on the way John Durant celebrated after he scored the goal?

02:26Obviously it was ruled out but what were your thoughts on that?

02:31I didn't see exactly that he scored the goal. He was there and the supporter was on this

02:37side. Of course he's running on the other side with our supporters better. And I can

02:44tell as well, we are grateful for our supporters, how they are sharing with us the first match

02:51in the Champions League after a long time. And we want to dedicate Gary Shaw and the

02:57supporters, they are proud of, all in Aston Villa in that moment and now.

03:08I have a question. Which player from Young Boys has caused the most problems for your

03:16team? And which player from their squad would you like to see in your team?

03:21I respect the opponent and of course they have very good players. But I can't choose

03:41nothing because we have our players and respecting them, through it we won the match. They have

03:49very good players.

03:54Unai, you've spoken before about how John has matured, but does his celebration suggest

03:59there's still lots of development for him to come still?

04:06We are working more than two years with every player when we arrive here. One of them arriving

04:14on December, January, one year and a half ago. And of course we are trying to

04:24build and to create a strong mentality inside with the players, the commitment, the behaviour.

04:37Be mature, be responsible, try to be respectful always inside, outside.

04:47And this is the way I know we have to continue in doing. But some players, being young,

04:59they have to take time to get responsible and mature 100%. But I think if we are now

05:10fixing only this moment, I think it's not far. I think we are speaking about 90 minutes,

05:17how we played, how he's playing, how he's continuing improving as well. Things like that.

05:25And of course, I am involving always with the player about his work and his behaviour.

05:41But I think it's serious, maybe a little bit, but not very serious.

05:55Can I just ask about Ollie Watkins? He looked to have ice on his ankle,

05:59or achilles maybe. How is he doing?

06:02He's working well. He played 60 minutes, he played well. And I decided to change him,

06:10like other players. No, he's OK.

06:19The Young Boys fans were quite upset after some players, a few,

06:23did some time-wasting, and also about the celebration he mentioned. Do you understand the

06:28fans?

06:30I don't think what question you are asking me. I analysed the match, I analysed 90 minutes,

06:38how we played. And you are focusing only two minutes in this match. I prefer to speak about

06:46the football. I respond something about it. No more. It's not the most important.

06:53We won, we were playing well, we were respecting them, we respect Young Boys,

06:57respect their supporters. We scored one goal, and they were supportive. Of course,

07:01they were angry about our goal, about the player he scored. And he was there, OK.

07:06I don't watch nothing more. I don't know if he did something different.

07:10But of course, I think it's not the most relevant.

07:14We're going to finish up with this question now. So last question, when you go.

07:19Ben, I could ask what pleased you most about the performance. But also,

07:23there seemed to be some confusion over a substitution. Did you get the player on that

07:28you wanted to put on? There seemed to be confusion over the numbers with the substitution, and you

07:35were quite angry.

07:36I can explain it. Because we decided three players change, and it was not included there.

07:46Lucas Digne, but he told us at the last moment, I am not 100% now, change me. OK, and we changed

07:56our substitutes players. The same players, but only we decided as well, Lucas out,

08:02and keep inside Jakob Ramsey. And it was this confusion.

08:10Cheers.

08:10OK, thank you so much.

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