Quarter-finals await 

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Unai Emery is unquestionably the greatest ever manager in Europa League history but he’s been unable to replicate that success in the Champions League across his decorated career. But he will be aiming to avenge that this season with Aston Villa despite the odds being stacked against them. Emery is the most successful coach ever in the Europa League winning UEFA’s second biggest club competition a record four times. The Spaniard lifted the Europa League with Sevilla on three occasions in 2014, 2015 and 2016 before famously beating Manchester United with Villareal in Gdansk in 2021.

Emery’s points per game record of 2.09 is also comfortably the best record in the competition’s history – Giovanni Trapattoni is second (1.84) with coaches to manage over 50 games. The 53-year-old, however, has only progressed past the last 16 in the Champions League on one occasion, reaching the semi-finals with Villareal in 2022. But Emery is destined to lead Aston Villa to the quarter-finals this season after Aston Villa won 3-1 away to Club Brugge in the first-leg of their last 16 tie after the Belgian’s imploded in the final ten minutes. Villa are poised to face either Liverpool or PSG in the last eight and the Midlands club will be praying that Emery can transfer his incredible Europa League record to the Champions League.

Unai Emery: Europa League and Champions League records compared

Villa were miles from their best against Brugge and the Belgians were the better side but they scored an own goal and conceded a penalty in the final ten minutes. It leaves the English Premier League club with a massive advantage ahead of the return leg next Wednesday. Villa made it six wins in nine Champions League games this season on their return to Europe’s top competition for the first time in 42 years. As the graphic below shows, Emery has now won 28 of 62 games in the Champions League and his win percentage stands at 45% – excluding qualifiers.

Unsurprisingly, Emery’s record in the Europa League is significantly better than in the Champions League with his win percentage standing at 64% – the Spaniard has won 59 of 94 games. The experienced manager has also lost 35% of games in the Champions League, compared to just 14% in the Europa League but there isn’t a massive difference in his goals scored and conceded records. It’s no surprise that Emery’s record is superior in the Europa League given the increased quality of teams in the Champions League. But Aston Villa have built an excellent squad and Emery’s tactical acumen in knockout games will have supporters dreaming.