'Very bad' - Aston Villa boss Unai Emery makes blunt Bayern Munich admission
Unai Emery is expecting Aston Villa to be at their best on Wednesday night against Bayern Munich, the German giants who the Spaniard believes are among the favourites to win the Champions League this season.
The six-time champions won their first league phase fixture 9-2 against Dinamo Zagreb, while Villa marked their return to Europe's elite club competition with a 3-0 win over BSC Young Boys in Bern. It's fitting that their first home Champions League for the first time in 41 years is against Bayern, the club who were defeated by Villa in the 1982 final in Rotterdam.
Emery was keen to stress in his pre-match press conference that while he, his players and fans should remember the win over Bayern from four decades ago, it's important that they aren't overowed by the occasion and don't face the Bundesliga side with an inferiority complex.
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"If Aston Villa is not playing since 1982 against Bayern Munich then it is not good news," Emery said. "It is very bad news. We are speaking here, very motivated because we are coming back into the Champions League. Aston Villa was last playing against Bayern Munich over 40 years ago. It is very bad.
"Europe is something important but also very, very difficult. This is the challenge we have now. Tomorrow they are favourites, but we are playing at home with our supporters. I played two times against them and we competed against them. Tomorrow I want to play and compete against them and face them being competitive tomorrow."
He continued: "It is a challenge for myself and I told yesterday to the players after the match we played on Sunday and between the match we are going to play against Manchester United, we are playing in England against the best teams in the world and we are showing our capacity. Now we are going to play against one of the best teams in Europe as well. My expectation is to compete, facing them being competitive and really getting our best performances and like that how we can be with a possibility to get a good result.
"My idea is to try to get something natural. Hopefully we can play more time in the Champions League but this is the first match after a long time in the Champions League for the club [at home]. We are motivated and so excited to play tomorrow with our supporters at Villa Park in this scenario, remembering as well the final against them 42 years ago.
"But now, at this moment in our process, we have to try and play one match more. Of course, it is against one of the best teams in the world and maybe a favourite with three or four more teams to win the competition.
"I want to play matches like this and consistently matches like this. In the Premier League we are facing other [Champions League] favourites like Man City, Liverpool and Arsenal. They can win the competition this year like Bayern Munich.
"Playing in Europe, we are very happy to face Bayern Munich at home and hopefully we can enjoy tomorrow and hopefully compete to show our best tomorrow against them."