Aston Villa boss Unai Emery emphasised the positives and key lessons for his side after our defeat to Olympiacos in the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League.
Villa arrived in Piraeus looking to overturn a 4-2 deficit from the first leg, but despite a positive start to the contest, an early goal for the hosts made the assignment even more difficult.
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As the game went on, it became apparent that it wasn’t to be a night for an incredible comeback as we eventually crashed out 6-2 on aggregate, with the damage undoubtedly being done in the first meeting last week at Villa Park and that’s where it was lost.
Naturally, it’s both disappointing and frustrating to fall short of achieving one of our major objectives this season in trying to win silverware, but Emery, as always, gave a positive and balanced assessment of the situation.
“We got to be in Europe at the end of last season and this year we enjoyed it but to win is very difficult and we are in the process [of developing],” he told TNT Sports, as reported by BBC Sport. “They [Olympiakos] deserve to be in the final. We lost it in the first 90 minutes at home and we were not competitive. We started this first half well, they scored but we controlled the game but we were not clinical.
“This is an experience for us at Aston Villa after a long time [of not being in Europe] and again we are going to compete in Europe next year. Of course we are a little bit disappointed, a little bit frustrated but we have to move on quick. We started the first leg and maybe we were favourites but after the first leg we weren’t.
“We have to try to finish the season and for it to be very amazing [if they qualify for the Champions League].
“Firstly get back to Birmingham. Then tomorrow rest and Saturday we focus on the match on Sunday against Liverpool. We are motivated and excited for it. Yes today we are disappointed but only one team can win, so for us to continue with the frustration doesn’t make sense.
“My message is clear. Move on and we have to try and finish the season doing an amazing season, particularly if we manage to achieve the last objective. Even without it [Champions League] we are in Europe in the Europa League.
“We will go over what we have done in the last two legs against Olympiakos and try to learn and take positives from it, take the information from it. Take the experience. Recover, reset and move on.”
It’s difficult to disagree with anything the Villa boss said, as it’s the logical and balanced view given our inexperience in Europe while taking stock of the progress that we’ve made thus far.
Ultimately, we lost to the better side over the two legs and we have to learn lessons from the experiences that we’ve had this past season in order to help us become increasingly competitive as we step up a level next year.
The more immediate focus is on securing fourth place in the Premier League and ticking at least one major box this year, and hopefully end the season on a positive note as we continue to battle through significant injuries and setbacks that has left Emery with a depleted squad.
While he will never use that as an excuse, it is a fact. Importantly though, it’s only one factor in the bigger picture that we’ve been left low on numbers and have run out of steam it seems, as we’ve got to learn from this European campaign, continue to improve, evolve and adapt and be more competitive whether it’s the Europa League or Champions League next season.