After making a fantastic start to their Champions League campaign, Aston Villa are in the midst of an unwanted rocky patch of form. Defeated by Club Brugge in their last European outing, the Villans are now without a win in their last six games across all competitions as they prepare to entertain Serie A giants Juventus.
Life has been close to a fairytale ever since Unai Emery took charge of Aston Villa, back in October 2022. Two years later, after taking them from the bottom of the Premier League to European football, the Spaniard is now facing one of his most challenging periods as Villa boss.
In a run of wretched form, Villa have conceded 19 goals in the Premier League – the worst record of any side in the top ten – and they have only scored the same amount themselves, which is 10 less than they had managed at the same point last season.
The Unai Emery cycle? Not quite.
As Aston Villa get ready to face Juventus in the Champions League on Wednesday, it’s precisely the time for Emery’s side to show their true colours. Why? Because it’s extremely unusual for their manager to endure such a poor run of results. In fact, the last time a team he managed a team to seven games without a win was five years ago – a run that saw him sacked by Arsenal – and the only other time it’s happened was in 2014 when he was Sevilla boss.
What happened after that? Sevilla won the first of three consecutive Europa League crowns.
Bouncing back is something Emery does well and he’s already done it during his time at Villa. From the 4-0 win over Everton just a week after a harsh 5-1 defeat to Newcastle United, to winning 15 Premier League home games in a row after losing 4-2 to Arsenal, he’s shown the resilience needed to overcome adversity.
“We are conceding more goals than usually and we have to try to find solutions”, Emery said after the 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace at the weekend. You’d back he’s going to do just that.
Conceding from set pieces is one of Villa’s current weaknesses, and it’s something that’s been on Emery’s radar since the 2-0 defeat to Liverpool. Despite dropping another player back to mark the edge of the penalty area against Palace, Villa conceded another goal in that exact manner – a work in progress that Emery and his coaching staff will want to correct as soon as possible.
They’ll be boosted by the fact that Juventus have a glut of injuries ravaging their squad. Thiago Motta has just 14 senior outfield players available to him, and Villa should undeniably benefit from the absence of Dusan Vlahovic, Weston McKennie and former Claret and Blue favourite Douglas Luiz, who is revered as a dead-ball specialist.
Juventus‘ fragility is something Emery and Villa will likely look to exploit, allowing greater confidence when they do have to defend their own penalty area.
Europe has long been known as Emery’s playground, mostly when he’s portrayed as the plucky underdog.
Villa were regarded as exactly that when Bayern Munich came calling in October, but there was always a calm, confidence from Emery about how his side would do in that fixture. Inevitably, Villa not only failed to lose to Bayern, they won the game thanks to a sensational goal from Jhon Duran – a player who was on the brink of leaving but has now been succesfully reintegrated by Emery.
The win was all the more impressive considering Bayern had ruthlessly disposed of Dinamo Zagreb 9-2 on the previous matchday – but was exactly the kind of thing we’ve come to expect from Emery.
Losing to Club Brugge was disappointing but Villa are still in a terrific position. They’re not used to competing at this level of European competition, so to be in with a chance of getting back into the top three of the revamped league phase with a win is testament to their overall progress.
Emery’s meticulous preparation has helped Villa get this far, both physically but also mentally.
One factor in Villa’s recent downturn has been a destabilising of Emery’s favoured backline.
Matty Cash is yet to play in the Champions League because of a hamstring injury – he’s missed seven games in all competitions – and that’s forced Ezri Konsa, naturally a central defender, to shift out wide and fill the void.
It’s meant Villa have lost their attacking impetus on the right, with Cash’s ability to drive to the byline greatly missed, but the Poland international looks to have returned for Emery at just the right time. That allows Konsa to shift inside one, taking the disappointing and underperforming Diego Carlos out of the line of fire.
Villa must also call upon their strength of playing at home. As well as Bayern, Bologna have been dispatched at Villa Park, and it should be another rocking atmosphere come 8pm on Wednesday. Juventus have faced some hugely challenging away days but few will compare if the home support rally and get behind Emery and his players like they have in the past.
Another page added to the club’s glorious history book? You wouldn’t want to bet against them.
