Unai Emery warns Aston Villa against complacency ahead of Club Brugge clash in UEFA Champions League - 'Respect them'

Aston Villa take a 3-1 lead into the second leg of their UEFA Champions League last 16 tie against Club Brugge on Wednesday, live on TNT Sports and discovery+. Speaking ahead of the match at Villa Park, Villa manager Unai Emery said that his team would not be complacent after past experiences in Europe, and said the side would be ready, should they have to, for extra-time or even penalties.

Emery calls on Villa to learn from experiences and ‘respect’ Club Brugge

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Aston Villa manager Unai Emery said his team are "ready" for the second leg against Club Brugge in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday.

They defeated Cardiff City in the fifth round of the FA Cup, Club Brugge 3-1 in the Champions League and then Brentford in the Premier League last weekend.

Speaking to TNT Sports, Emery said that while the wins came in three different tournaments, there was a thread in the work done to prepare the team.

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He said: "Separate each competition. We won in the FA Cup at home, we won in Champions League against Brugge, then we won against Brentford in the Premier League. Three different competitions.

"We are trying to focus on this match tomorrow against Brugge. Thinking and preparing for the game, after we won 1-3, trying to continue with the same work we did there. But, of course, we know how difficult it is to beat each team in the Champions League."

Despite the two-goal advantage heading into the second leg, Emery pointed to some tough moments in European competition over the last couple of years, and warned against complacency.

He added: "We feel strong at home, but even like that, we were winning 2-0 against Celtic last time, and they drew [level] with us in five minutes. Afterwards, we won, of course.

"Last year we were in the Conference League against Olympiacos at home, and we lost here 2-4.

"They are experiences we had here - we had them outside here too - but this is the most important. I want to use the experiences we have here, and how we beat [Brugge], but in the last 10 minutes, when we were drawing, they had two chances to score."

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He hoped his men would sharpen their focus ahead of the match at home, and be ready to go beyond the 90 minutes if necessary.

"This is the importance of my focus for the match," he explained. "Respect them, respect football, respect our experiences. Try to play and be ready for 90 minutes, continuing our game plan at Villa Park, in front of our supporters, but respecting them.

"Then we are ready even for extra time, even if we play a penalty shootout."

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