Unai Emery faced the media at Marshall Józef Piłsudski's Municipal Stadium of Legia Warsaw on Wednesday evening.
Aston Villa’s head coach had plenty to talk about ahead of tomorrow’s Europa Conference League group stage opener against Legia Warszawa.
Here’s what he had to say…
On team news…
When asked about Jacob Ramsey and Alex Moreno: “They are working with the team and I am going to decide tomorrow.
“They are here, they are with us and they have to start playing minutes, taking confidence again. Those players are very important for us this season.
“We have to be careful with them about how they are playing again and trying to take minutes with us.”
On the excitement of being in Europe…
“I am very happy in Europe. I’m proud of our work last year and we are here to enjoy and try to be demanding in the next step we are going to do.
“Now we are in the groups and we want to do something important. We are going to try to take our step ahead thinking about each moment.
“The stadium is sold out for tomorrow and I think we’re going to play with a very good atmosphere. Our supporters are coming from Birmingham trying to be with us.
“Of course, it’s special to start here in Europe, in the Conference League. We have to enjoy, we have to be demanding and try to do something on this new step in Europe.”
On playing Legia…
“To be in Europe, with some of the titles I’ve won, is important for me, but football is about now. It’s not about the past – the past is only to take experiences and use those experiences to be help me to do something again.
“I respect a lot every team and every coach. Legia Warszawa are playing very well and they have a very good defensive structure.
“They’re going to be very, very excited and are going to play to their best football capacity. We have to be ready for it.”
On his previous European successes…
“Sometimes I’ve had success, sometimes not, but each time I try and use the experience trying to better myself.
“I played in Champions League, I played in Europa League and that’s the competition I’ve been successful a lot of times. But now the Conference League is a new competition and it’s the third year.
“The first was won by Roma, second by West Ham and, of course, I want to do something in this competition.
“For me, the most important thing is trying to enjoy each moment in the way we are going to do. We started against Hibernian, and we enjoyed those moments during two matches, and again tomorrow, preparing and playing the match.
“We are trying to show our progress as a team; this is the next success I want to do.”
