Chelsea vs. Aston Villa: Unai Emery urges players to grab this “amazing” top four opportunity

As Aston Villa looks to tighten their hold on fourth place against Chelsea, Unai Emery has issued a challenge to them to take advantage of their “amazing” potential to qualify for the Champions League.

Villa leads fifth-place Tottenham by six points in the competition to finish in the top four and earn a lucrative spot in the Champions League the following season.

When Emery’s team hosts Chelsea on Saturday, they have the opportunity to extend their advantage to nine points. On Sunday, Tottenham takes on leaders Arsenal in the first of their three remaining games.

“Amazing motivation we have in front of us, but realistic as well because I think we deserve to be contenders now to get it,” Emery told reporters on Friday.

“Even one month ago, you were asking the same, ‘if we were contenders to be in the top seven teams or in the Champions League?’ I was always saying the same message, ‘we weren’t’.

“But, of course, getting to match 32, 33, 34, like we are now, if we are in the table with the possibility like we have now, we have to try and get it.”

Villa last played in the Champions League under its old European Cup guise in 1982-83.

To return to Europe’s elite club competition would be a huge achievement for Emery, given the difficult situation he inherited from his predecessor Steven Gerrard on his arrival from Villarreal in 2022.

Emery’s men are also competing to win the Europa Conference League, with the semi-final first leg against Olympiakos at Villa Park on Thursday.

“Now we are contenders, but we have to fight with another opponent like Tottenham and it’s going to be very difficult,” he said.

“We are now as well in the Europa Conference League and this is another important step ahead we did.

“I’m very proud of the work we did but now we are adding another objective, trying to get a Champions League position.”