Unai Emery – Villarreal booked their place in the semi-finals of the Europa League on Thursday night with a 3-1 aggregate victory over Dinamo Zagreb, with this being the sixth time that Unai Emery has made it to this stage of the competition.
Emery is widely recognised for his incredible record in Europe’s second competition, so much so that he should be referred to as ‘Mr. Europa League’.
After all, he has spent seven seasons in the Europa League and has reached the semi-finals on six occasions, while he’s gone on to reach the final itself four times, of which he has won three – all with Sevilla.
Emery has coached the most games in the competition since it was created in 2009/10, and incredibly he has guided his teams – Sevilla, Arsenal and now Villarreal – through 21 consecutive two-legged ties.
A chance to make history
Now, just under nine months after being appointed, the Basque coach could take Villarreal to the first final in their history if they are able to knock out one of his former clubs in Arsenal.
After taking the Gunners to the 2019 Europa League final, where they lost against an Eden Hazard-inspired Chelsea, Unai Emery will be out to get some revenge, as he was sacked a few months into the 2019/20 season.
It will be a tough task for Arsenal, too, as the Yellow Submarine have been exceptional in Europe this season, having won 11 games and drawn just one. Only Manchester City in the Champions League come close to matching those numbers.
Emery has time to prepare for Villarreal’s Europa League semi-final against a team that he knows very well, while everyone at the Estadio de la Ceramica will feel confident all the time that Unai is on the sidelines. After all, he is Mr. Europa League.