Unai Emery is ready to enjoy Aston Villa’s UEFA Europa Conference League adventure and is excited to “try to do something in this competition”.
Friday’s draw in Monaco paired Villa with Dutch side AZ Alkmaar, Legia Warszawa from Poland and Bosnia and Herzegovina champions HŠK Zrinjski in Group E.
Villa qualified for the group stage of European competition for the first time since 2008/09 with an 8-0 aggregate victory over Hibernian in the play-off round.
And Emery was full of respect and excitement when asked about the draw at Friday’s pre-match media conference.
“Of course, we have respect for them (our opponents),” he said.
“Firstly, we wanted not a lot of difficulty in our travel to different countries. I think it’s good.
“Then, the teams, they are different teams.
“AZ Alkmaar last year played against West Ham in the semi-finals in this competition.
“They are a team with experience as well in Europe.
“We are going to enjoy, we are going to respect, we are going to try to do our way – being with our supporters, excited to do something in this competition.
“I want to add for the next three months at the beginning six matches more with our players.
“Of course, it’s more work but I’m happy playing a lot of matches and we’re going to try in this competition to do something.”
Emery added: “I want to enjoy Legia Warszawa, I want to enjoy in Holland, I want to enjoy in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“I want to enjoy each match. I want to enjoy each moment and, of course, here at Villa Park.”
The Presser
