Chess, lectures & ignoring noise: Emery masters Europe again

Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Unai Emery has won five European trophies as a manager Picture Unai Emery loading up a chess app on his phone to play against strangers - under his own name. That is just one of the methods the meticulous Aston Villa boss uses to hone the mental discipline required at football's highest level. And Emery is certainly the Europa League's grand master, having clinched the trophy yet again with Villa's 3-0 win over Freiburg on Wednesday - for the club's first piece of silverware in 30 years, and his fifth win in the competition. Emery, 54, previously guided Sevilla to Europa League glory three years in a row - in 2014, 2015 and 2016 - before sealing his fourth success with Villarreal in 2021. After five years, the Spaniard has been reunited with the trophy - and moved level with Carlo Ancelotti, Jose Mourinho and Giovanni Trapattoni on the list of managers with most major European prizes (five). Here, BBC Sport takes a closer look at the man at who has guided Villa to their first European trophy since 1982. Emery managed to find time during the day to open his chess app and play three-minute online games against all-comers. The idea of a Premier League manager doing so under his own name might sound strange, but it is true. He believes you have to be ready for anything - and cannot afford to switch off. But it's not just chess that catches Emery's attention. He's also partial to watching a lecture. Even at 2am. His particular interests are people who explain the world in new ways. Scientists, thinkers, whoever can expand his frame of reference. Another 2am activity is watching any level of football on his iPad. As one example, take Racing Santander - who have just been promoted to Spain's top flight. Not a Champions League giant or a rival, but that doesn't stop Emery from studying them. Champions League football escaped Villa on the final day of last season, but Emery's first act of this campaign was to tell his players they could get there this term - even if other teams had bigger budgets. His target was a long run in the Europa League and to secure a Champions league place. Job done on both counts. A five-match winless run at the start of the season wasn't in the script, but Emery managed to convince Villa the season was going to be good. Emery says nobody works harder than him. He isn't boasting, he is just explaining his methodology. He focuses on body shape in training, tactics, physical details, forcing players to dedicate 70% of their time to football. He has spoken about his parents - his father and mother - and the sense of responsibility they embedded in him. Whatever he does, he does completely. Meeting a target is, of course, a professional outcome - but also the conclusion of a responsibility he takes personally. To sustain that, he has learned to protect his concentration fiercely. He is able to ignore any external noise. When Villa were criticised for resting key players in their home defeat by Tottenham before the second leg of the Europa League semi-final against Nottingham Forest, Emery did not blink. He had calculated that the points they needed in the league to secure Champions League qualification would come from somewhere else if they were needed. And he was right. Villa Park helped. Emery has always drawn energy from stands that believe. What next? He'll go to his home town of Hondarribia or favourite vacation destination Mallorca to walk by the sea and meet friends that have nothing to do with football. He will spend time with his mum. He might even join her when she does her daily swim in the Basque coast - and he'll allow himself to sleep a little more than usual. Then the preparation for next season will begin. The extent of Emery's Aston Villa revolution cannot be underestimated. When the Spaniard took charge on 1 November 2022, Villa were 16th in the Premier League - two places and one point above the relegation zone. They went on to win 15 of their 25 league games to finish seventh and earn a spot in European competition for the first time since 2010-11. In his first full season, Emery secured Champions League football for Villa for the first time since 1982–83. His side also won 15 consecutive home league games - the most in their 151-year history. And now, with Champions League football secured once again, Villa are champions on the continent for the first time in a generation. Former Villa midfielder Mark Albrighton told BBC Radio 5 Live that Emery has "taken Villa to the next level". He said: "There are going to be times when you have highs and lows, that is the nature of football. "Villa have experienced some of those lows but now they are on a massive high. Unai Emery was a step up in terms of what they had before." Ashley Young, another ex-Villa player, also told Radio 5 Live: "As soon as Unai Emery came in to Aston Villa, the players saw what he had done in his career, saw the Europa Leagues he ha

Chess, lectures & ignoring noise: Emery masters Europe again

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