Emery 'excited' by Aston Villa's potential in Europa League

Unai Emery is hopeful of a strong European campaign for Aston Villa this season after they earned a 1-0 win over Bologna in their Europa League opener.

Villa have made a poor start in the Premier League, with no wins from their first five matches, leaving them 18th in the table, but they managed to pick up their first win of the season with a victory over the Italian side after John McGinn's first-half goal.

The Villans have won their opening game of a major European campaign in successive seasons for only the second time in their history (3-0 at Young Boys in the 2024-25 Champions League), after 1981-82 and 1982-83 in the European Cup.

Emery, a record four-time winner of the competition, believes his side are ready to compete in the competition, with Villa not having won a trophy for 30 years.

He told TNT Sports: "This year I am positive, excited and motivated for the Europa League, but I know it's very difficult to win.

"We need to try to be contenders for some trophies. In Europe, we were, but we lost in the semi-finals of the Conference League.

"In the Champions League, we got through to the quarter-finals."

Villa are now unbeaten in seven European matches at Villa Park, which is their second-best ever run at home in Europe, and Emery knows he can always count on the home support, even though they have not started this campaign in the best way.

He said: "At home, I felt always here, three years since I arrived, that we were strong and confident.

"[We] create a great atmosphere with energy, the players and supporters, and today I felt that."

The Spaniard also defended the form of Ollie Watkins, as his poor run of form in front of goal continued, with the England international missing a penalty in the second half.

He has now failed to score three of his last five penalties for Villa (excluding shoot-outs), including each of his previous two, which have both come in European competition.

Watkins came off the bench in the 58th minute and had three shots, more than any other Villa player, accumulating 0.9 expected goals (xG), and having eight touches in the box, also a team high. 

"He worked today, and this is the first step to recover his confidence," said Emery.

"He has to feel after each match like I am feeling now, be happy because he did his work. He has to feel the same, and if he is scoring, he is going to feel better.

"He created chances as well, but the most important [thing] is to recover the confidence and, firstly, do your task like he did [against Bologna]. 

"He played a good match, not enough because he didn't score, but he played good. This is the first step."

Villa will look to make it two successive wins by earning their first in the league when they host Fulham on Sunday.