Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has previewed next Wednesday’s clash against Celtic at Villa Park.
With Villa losing 1-0 against Monaco last night in Monaco, the Villans’ hopes of sealing a place in the last 16 through finishing in the top 8 have been dealt a serious blow.
The Premier League side are currently 8th in the table; however, with the likes of Bayern Munich and AC Milan in action this evening, Emery’s side may finish the night outside the guaranteed qualification spots.
This means that Celtic will face a full-strength Villa side next Wednesday, with the hope among supporters that Villa would have already qualified for the last 16 by the time they come up against the Hoops. However, slip-ups over the last four matchdays have meant that a team who once looked certain to have their future already decided now has everything to play for in a week’s time.
The Spanish boss was critical of himself and his players last night post-match, particularly regarding one of his tactical decisions ahead of the game, which he feels cost them the win.
Emery said:(BeanymanSports), “We can be here maybe two days to explain it, in one minute, it’s difficult.
“We were horrible in set-pieces. We were horrible. We had seven corners and we didn’t have one corner good to try to score and when you are playing matches like today, very important those three points, because we lost the opportunity, I think, to be in the top eight. Today was the key to getting it.
“The last 20 minutes, we were playing with two strikers, we lost a little bit of our positioning and we weren’t threatening them like in the first 70 minutes – it was my mistake to play with two strikers.”
It’s not exactly what you want to hear—a motivated Emery ahead of next week’s game. However, Celtic’s future is in their hands tonight against Young Boys at Celtic Park. A win would seal a place in the Champions League knockout playoffs next month.
A positive result against Villa would be a bonus, and given the Premier League side’s impressive domestic results over the last year, Celtic supporters will be well aware of the threat they will pose in a week’s time. However, for now, tonight’s game is the focus.
