Manajer Aston Villa Unai Emery menegaskan dirinya bukan Raja Liga Eropa menjelang pertandingan final kompetisi tersebut melawan SC Freiburg di Stadion Tupras, Istanbul, Turki, pada Rabu, 20 Mei 2026 pukul 15.00 waktu setempat.
Laga ini menjadi kesempatan besar bagi Aston Villa untuk meraih trofi mayor pertama mereka dalam 30 tahun terakhir setelah mencatatkan performa impresif di kompetisi domestik dan Eropa sepanjang musim ini.
Emery tercatat pernah memenangi kompetisi ini tiga kali bersama Sevilla dan sekali dengan Villarreal, tetapi ia menyatakan bahwa kesuksesan masa lalu tidak akan memengaruhi hasil pertandingan melawan perwakilan Bundesliga tersebut.
"I am not a king in this competition." kata Emery dilansir dari espn.com.
Pelatih asal Spanyol tersebut menjelaskan bahwa fokusnya saat ini sepenuhnya tercurah untuk membawa skuad Aston Villa yang sekarang demi mengukir era baru bagi klub Inggris tersebut.
"I am now with Aston Villa in a new chapter and everything I did is done. It's there in that moment, but with it I am not winning tomorrow." ujar Emery.
Emery menambahkan bahwa performa anak asuhnya di Liga Konferensi dan Liga Champions sebelumnya telah menunjukkan kapasitas tim untuk bersaing di level tertinggi.
"I need to win tomorrow with the players we have now, with Aston Villa now, with the opponent we face tomorrow. So it's a new way, a new moment and hopefully a new era." kata Emery.
Mantan pelatih Arsenal itu juga tidak ingin terlalu banyak membahas pencapaian yang sudah berlalu di masa lalu.
"I don't want to speak a lot about the thing we did before." tutur Emery.
Ia menyadari adanya tekanan besar dalam laga final, namun ia meminta para pemain untuk melihat tekanan tersebut sebagai hal yang positif.
"Now, this year, and the matches we played before in the Conference League or in the Champions League, and they are showing the capacity to play at a high level." sebut Emery.
Emery menekankan pentingnya mengelola emosi dalam pertandingan krusial seperti ini.
"This is a process. A process [for] how we could achieve, building the team and our structure." kata Emery.
Pengalaman bertanding di berbagai laga besar dinilai akan membantu Aston Villa dalam menghadapi tekanan di partai puncak.
"Now it's a new experience we will have tomorrow. It's very important how we manage our emotions and we've done it for a lot of matches and there are a lot of emotions." jelas Emery.
Emery menyatakan tekanan muncul karena tim sedang memperjuangkan sesuatu yang sangat penting bagi sejarah klub.
"The pressure is here as well, but we must try to understand the pressure like something positive, not negative. And the pressure is when you are playing for something important. And of course we have experience here." kata Emery.
Meskipun Aston Villa sempat memulai awal musim ini dengan buruk, Emery memuji kedewasaan para pemainnya yang mampu bangkit dari masa-masa sulit.
"We started so poorly at the beginning of the season for different reasons. But how the players responded in the difficult moments was really amazing." ungkap Emery.
Kerja keras bersama antara jajaran pelatih dan pemain menjadi kunci utama penyelesaian masalah tersebut.
"We were mature in the difficult moments. This is the most important characteristic we had during the season -- mature and responsible." kata Emery.
Emery mengakui sempat merasa sangat cemas pada awal musim sebelum akhirnya menemukan solusi yang tepat.
"I was worried at the beginning. Really worried. I was always trying to find solutions in each moment. I needed the players, I needed the work we did and the reaction we did. But we did it together." pungkas Emery.
Kapten Aston Villa John McGinn menyatakan rasa bangganya terhadap pencapaian klub dan menegaskan bahwa seluruh skuad sangat fokus untuk menghadapi Freiburg dengan rasa hormat tertinggi.
"It fills me with pride as to where the club is now, and it also fills me with pride as to where this club could go," kata McGinn.
McGinn menambahkan bahwa tim tidak ingin terjebak dalam perayaan yang berlebihan sebelum pertandingan selesai dilakukan.
"As the manager [Emery] has touched upon, this isn't something we want to come here and celebrate in a sort of fanfare. We want to be focused on this match; we know how good Freiburg are." ujar McGinn.
Ia menyadari melaju hingga babak final bukanlah perkara mudah sehingga tim harus tetap konsisten dengan performa mereka.
"We know how difficult it is to get to a final. So we'll treat them with the utmost respect, like they deserve. And we will only build as a club if we keep doing the same things we are doing." tutur McGinn.
Bagi McGinn, memimpin Aston Villa di laga final ini menjadi momen paling membanggakan dalam kariernya sebagai kapten.
"But if you ask on a personal level after all the years I've been here, it definitely is the proudest moment as captain here." kata McGinn.
Mantan penyerang Aston Villa Dion Dublin turut memberikan pandangannya melalui BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast mengenai signifikansi laga final ini bagi para pendukung klub yang sudah lama menantikan trofi.
"It's absolutely huge. I was at the club for six years, in the late nineties and early noughties, I was playing with Ginola, Merson and Southgate, some of the best players ever and we didn't really achieve anything either." kata Dublin.
Dublin menilai kombinasi antara Unai Emery dan manajemen klub terjalin sangat baik karena pelatih diberikan kontrol penuh terhadap tim.
"The fans have had to wait a long time for any success at all, any trophies. Now it is here, with this group of players under one of the best managers this football club could ever get hold of. I think the balance between Unai Emery and Villa is a very, very good match. It works, they have given him full control. The players have got on board and look where they are, look at the players they have." urai Dublin.
Beberapa pemain kunci seperti John McGinn, Morgan Rogers, dan Ollie Watkins dinilai sedang berada dalam kondisi terbaiknya.
"Super John McGinn has been brilliant, Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins has found his form just in time for the England squad. Everything at Aston Villa is very good. I just want them to get over the line for the fans." harap Dublin.
Dublin meyakini Emery akan memastikan pertahanan tim tetap solid untuk mengantisipasi serangan balik dari kubu lawan.
"Unai Emery will make sure that his boys are on it and that Villa are very hard to beat. When they are in possession and they are going forward trying to score goals, he makes sure that his team are solid at the back, just in case. That is so important, especially tonight, don't get caught on the break, don't get too giddy because we should win the game but please respect the opposition." kata Dublin.
Ia memprediksi Aston Villa akan memenangi pertandingan dengan skor 3-1 dalam waktu normal melalui gol dari Watkins dan Rogers.
"I'm calling this Villa 3-1 in normal time. Ollie Watkins brace, Morgan Rogers far post header. I can't give you any more information than that. Villa bringing it home, just wait and see." ucap Dublin.
Di sisi lain, mantan bek Arsenal Matthew Upson memberikan komentar mengenai keberhasilan Arsenal mengunci gelar juara Premier League lebih awal tanpa harus menentukan nasib di pekan terakhir.
"The first thing I thought, I looked at the players and I thought now they don't have to think about that game [against Crystal Palace] and from a player perspective, you obviously love those moments, that's what you get out of bed for, for the pressure of that game." kata Upson.
Upson menganggap keberhasilan ini melepaskan tekanan besar dari pundak para pemain setelah melewati masa-masa sulit pada Maret dan April.
"But there is also a relief that somebody has opened the pressure valve and they have done it and don't have to worry about going to a tricky fixture at Crystal Palace that can produce anything on the day." ujar Upson.
Keberhasilan tersebut sekaligus membungkam kritik yang menyebut Arsenal sering kali gagal di saat-saat krusial.
"I think that certainly is an emotion the players feel along with the emotion of being Premier League champions. They have got it over the line and it puts to bed that noise that they are bottlers to a degree. They've shown the resilience to get through that sticky patch certainly in March and April." papar Upson.
Mengenai foto beberapa pemain Arsenal yang berada di luar stadion hingga pukul 05.00 waktu setempat, Upson menganggap hal itu wajar sebagai perayaan juara setelah puasa gelar selama 22 tahun.
"There's probably only one way you're going to get away with that and it's the evening you have been crowned Premier League champions after 22 years. I think we can cut them a little bit of slack." kata Upson.
Kepastian gelar juara Arsenal tersebut diperoleh setelah Manchester City hanya mampu bermain imbang melawan Bournemouth, yang memicu perayaan besar di Emirates Stadium dan pusat latihan klub.
