Youri Tielemans has hailed the influence of Unai Emery as Aston Villa prepare to tackle Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League.
Villa face the French champions at the Parc des Princes in the first leg of their last eight encounter on Wednesday night.
For Emery, who has four European titles to his name, it will mark a return to the club where he managed between 2016-2018.
The experienced Spaniard has since masterminded a remarkable two-and-a-half-years at Villa, guiding the club from the lower reaches of the Premier League table to a quarter-final among Europe’s elite.
Asked at Tuesday evening’s pre-match media conference how much confidence it gives to have someone like Emery in charge for this fixture, Tielemans replied: “A lot of confidence.
“Obviously he knows what it is to be at this stage of the competition.
“He’s got a plan in place and we’re just ready to play the game tomorrow.”
Villa travel to Paris for the eagerly-awaited encounter with three France internationals within their ranks.
Lucas Digne, Boubacar Kamara and Axel Disasi could all feature against PSG.
And Tielemans, when asked, saluted the impact of his team-mates.
“I think Lucas has, since my time here, has been really good, very consistent,” said Tielemans.
“He’s had to work his way into the team, into the system, and he’s done it brilliantly, especially in the last year or so when he’s been the first-choice left-back for the manager. He’s been playing really good.
“Coming back into the national team, he’s very proud of that as well, to have worked his way back into the team with all the talent in France.
“I think it’s credit to him and his hard work.”
Tielemans added: “Bouba is a very good player, obviously very easy to play with, for me to play next to him.
“We understand each other very well and the system is there for us as well to understand each other.
“He’s a guy who can pick up balls and make the team play, but also can break up play as easily.
“It’s a joy to play with him and very easy.”
Wednesday night represents the first-ever meeting between Villa and PSG in European competition.
Emery side’s have recorded an impressive five clean sheets from their 10 Champions League matches so far this term, seeing off Club Brugge in the round of 16 en route to the last eight.
It is the first time Villa have competed in Europe’s elite club competition since reaching the quarter-finals in 1982/83.
And Tielemans was asked how he and his team-mates have progressed so well in a competition many observers feel requires a wealth of prior experience.
“I think it’s just a case of performing at the right moments,” he said.
“We have some players with a lot of experience and I think you can tell in the way we’re playing in this competition, especially against some of the biggest teams we’ve played against.
“I think some of the results we’ve had in this competition were really good, the way we played and adapted ourselves through the competition was brilliant.
“The main thing is our focus and our mentality going into games, knowing we can do something here, but also knowing we have tough opponents against us.
“We’re always ready, we’re prepared, and we just want to give our best for ourselves.”
