Emery urges Villarreal to break another barrier in Europa League final

Villarreal coach Unai Emery believes the Europa League final against Manchester United is an opportunity for his side to assert themselves among the top teams on the continent, urging them to take the final step of winning a major trophy.

“Breaking barriers was one of our objectives,” Emery told a news conference ahead of Wednesday’s (May 26) game.

“We will continue to have the responsibility to break more barriers that might be in front of us. So, we want to enjoy this final, but we also want to win,” he continued.

Hailing from a town of 50,000 people, Villarreal were an unknown entity in Spain until getting promoted to La Liga for the first time in 1998 and have since consolidated their position among the top teams in the country.

They are still yet to lift a major trophy though and had never reached a major final at home or abroad before overcoming Arsenal last month after losing their previous four European semi-finals.

Emery is a Europa League specialist, winning the competition an unprecedented three consecutive times with Sevilla between 2014 and 2016 and finishing runners-up with Arsenal in 2019.

He admitted Villarreal were unfancied in the final against the historical might of United, who are contesting their eighth European final, but said his side had plenty of reasons to believe they could topple the Premier League team.