Former Arsenal manager Unai Emery faces a reunion with his former club in the Europa League semi-finals which comes in almost just two years from when he led the Gunners to the final of the Europa League competition, where they lost to Chelsea. Unai Emery has termed Arsenal past “less important” as he aims to reach the final.
The Villareal manager has made it clear that the history with Arsenal will not distract him from the task of guiding his team to the Europa League final for the first time.
Villareal managed to beat Dinamo Zagreb 3-1 on aggregate to set up a semi-final with Arsenal, who scored 4 past Slavia Prague in the second leg to win 5-1 on aggregate.
Emery was in charge of Arsenal for 18 months with his tenure coming to an end after he was sacked in November 2019. His reign saw him reach the Europa League final but lost to Chelsea.
The Spaniard has insisted that his “past at Arsenal” is of little concern as he aims to guide his side Villarreal to their first European final.
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Emery, who won three consecutive Europa League titles with Sevilla said:
“Breaking the barrier of the semi-finals is the great challenge,”
“The idea of reaching the Champions League through the Europa League is very important. When I signed here this was one more process. My past at Arsenal is less important.”
“We want to continue to play our way, always respecting our rival and not speculate on anything.
“We need to play to win and go into the match with the same sincerity that we’re currently showing. Play the same way and don’t give them chances.”
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has praised his predecessor, hailing him for an impressive Europa League record.
He said:
“It will be really tough and Unai Emery is probably the most successful manager in this competition,”
“There is still a lot to do and things we can improve on, but we have a real desire to improve and be better every day.”
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