Unai Emery interview: Aston Villa boss on UEFA Super Cup challenge, respect for Luis Enrique and hunger for European titles

"I feel like the club is in a new era, with this possibility to fight for trophies," says Aston Villa boss Unai Emery as he sits down with UEFA ahead of the 2026 Super Cup.

Indeed, Villa have established themselves as European regulars since the Basque coach arrived in 2022, reaching the UEFA Conference League semi-finals in 2024 and the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals in 2025 before lifting the UEFA Europa League trophy in May – Villa's first European title since 1983.

The opportunity for another awaits on Wednesday 12 August and it is one Villa will approach without fear, despite opponents Paris ranking as "the best team in the world" in Emery's view.

"Very important," Emery says of the Super Cup. "We’re trying to be successful through, firstly, [building] a winning team, and then aiming for the positive consequences after it: winning trophies.

"To play the UEFA Super Cup is another opportunity to be there, the opportunity to win a trophy, to play against Paris Saint-Germain – the [best] team in the world now and another team we can compare [ourselves] with."

Aston Villa won the Super Cup in 1983Popperfoto via Getty Images

Villa are competing in their second Super Cup following their 1983 triumph against Barcelona, but their coach has more recent experience in the showpiece – in 2021 with Villarreal and in 2015 and 2014 with Sevilla.

Emery's teams were narrowly defeated in all three of those finals, including against a Barcelona side led by current Paris coach Luis Enrique in 2015. Eleven years on, Emery is excited to take on his compatriot again.

"His teams always play well," Emery says of Luis Enrique. "The relationship I have with him, built through competing against each other, in the same way that I feel proud of the work I do and how we evolve, I also feel like it’s a great challenge to face the best coaches in the world.

"For me, competing against [Pep] Guardiola is magnificent, competing against Luis Enrique is magnificent. Why? Because they demand a lot of me, they motivate me a lot. Based on the full respect I have for managers, that respect is even greater when competing against them, which means that I want to fight to beat them, as I look at them as the best."

Unai Emery (right) enjoys competing against Paris coach Luis EnriqueAFP via Getty Images

Emery's record in Europa League finals is considerably more impressive, achieving his fifth success in six finals as Villa outclassed Freiburg in May.

"Winning five Europa League titles, playing in a Champions League semi-final, as well as a Champions League quarter-final, that makes me very proud and very grateful," Emery beams.

"To share one with a club such as Aston Villa, who have such an incredible history, winning the European Cup in 1982, it rekindles those hopes for us and we feel like we have the capacity to win a European title. As a manager, I feel very satisfied, but I’m also very demanding, so that we can maintain all of this."

Europa League elation came after heartbreak in the Conference League, where Villa were beaten in the final four in 2024, and the Champions League in 2025. Back at Europe's top table for the first time in more than four decades, an impressive Villa campaign was ended by none other than Paris – 5-4 aggregate victors after a tight quarter-final tie.

"In Paris, we lost 3-1, and we played a good match but we were not protagonists like in the second match," reflects Emery. "In the second leg, we exploited our potential in attack, having some really good moments to come back [in the tie] and being really dominant against the best team. In the end, we didn’t achieve it.

"To play against a team like PSG and feel that we could achieve the level they had, it was very important for our belief. We are going to try to use the same message in the dressing room and we’re going to prepare for the game thinking that we can have our chances by competing in the best way."

Back in the Champions League for the 2026/27 season, Emery is ready to aim high once more.

"Clearly, winning the Champions League is something I dream of," the Villa boss says. "I see teams that have come close to a level similar to ours over the years – three years ago, Borussia Dortmund reached the final; Villarreal reached the semi-finals against Liverpool and came close to reaching the final.

"So, at Aston Villa, we’ll also try to be a competitive team, a team that is renowned, that’s closer to winning than losing, and that’s back in contention or capable of competing with the best teams to win titles."

This interview was conducted on 27 July 2026