In November 2023, Unai Emery left a Villarreal side that had just reached the Champions League semifinals to take over a struggling Aston Villa. The days of the club lifting the European Cup in 1982 felt like a distant memory. However, after a comprehensive transformation that cemented the Villans in the Premier League’s elite, they overturned the tie against Nottingham Forest to book their place in the Europa League final. This marks Emery’s sixth European final, adding to his three triumphs with Sevilla and one with Villarreal, as he aims for another continental title.
