Soccer

Unai Emery already one of Aston Villa’s greatest managers, says John McGinn

Villa maintained their perfect start to the Champions League with victory over Bologna.

John McGinn believes Unai Emery is one of the greatest managers in Aston Villa’s history
John McGinn believes Unai Emery is one of the greatest managers in Aston Villa’s history (David Davies/PA)
By Jonathan Veal, PA

John McGinn believes Unai Emery has already cemented his position as one of Aston Villa’s greatest managers.

Emery celebrates two years in charge of Villa on Thursday and enjoyed an early anniversary present as his side went top of the Champions League table following a 2-0 win over Bologna at Villa Park.

To sit at the summit of Europe’s premier club competition, ahead of Wednesday night’s games, underlines the remarkable job the Spaniard has done at Villa since taking over from Steven Gerrard in October 2022, when only goal difference was keeping them out of the relegation zone.

And McGinn says no matter how their journey ends, Emery has already proved himself among Villa’s elite.

“We are excited. I think the manager is the only person who does not get excited,” said the Scotland international, who scored the opening goal against Bologna.

“He just focuses his full energy all the time, like he says every single day he is that demanding on us.

“He does not let us take our foot off the gas so we can use energy and enthusiasm, the excitement we have, but his determination and intensity is unmatched.

“No matter what happens until now and whenever he leaves – we hope it’s never – he will certainly go down as one of our club’s greatest managers.”

Villa followed up victories over Young Boys and Bayern Munich with a comfortable success over the Serie A side to make it nine points from nine.

That could already be enough to ensure they make it through to the play-off round of the revamped competition, but their eyes are on finishing in the top eight and qualifying automatically for the last 16.

“We are proud of where we are, top of the league table at the minute,” McGinn added.

“It has put us in a great position to go and kick on. Our aim is obviously to qualify first and foremost for the next round, but if we can take it into the top eight and carry this on it would be brilliant.

Unai Emery has led a remarkable rise at Aston Villa since his appointment
Unai Emery has led a remarkable rise at Aston Villa since his appointment (Nick Potts/PA)

“It would (help us), definitely. It was similar to last year, finishing top of the Conference League group meant you missed the play-off round.

“With the schedule and the amount of games you can play, we want to go as far as we can in the Carabao Cup and FA Cup.

“So missing two games would be a bonus, but if we need to play them, we need to play them.

“There will be no complaints because we are in the top flight of European football.”