Emery hails ´very serious´ performance from Villa against Lille

Unai Emery was full of praise for Aston Villa’s “very serious” display against Lille in their Europa League last 16 first leg.

The Villans won 1-0 in France courtesy of Ollie Watkins’ second-half header in a largely evenly-fought contest.

Villa have now won each of their last six Europa League games, extending their longest-ever run in major European competition, which is also the longest active winning run of any side across the three European competitions in 2025-26.

Emery, meanwhile, has won eight of his 10 games against Lille in all competitions (D1 L1), a win ratio of 80%. Among teams he has faced at least 10 times in his career, he has only won a higher share against Rayo Vallecano (91% – 10/11).

The Spaniard was pleased with what he felt was a professional performance on the road.

Emery, who won his 100th match in charge of Villa, told TNT Sports: “We played a very serious match, [were] organised, respecting the competition, and we know how difficult this match is in Europe, playing in other countries with the atmosphere they have here.

“For them to play an English team, you can feel it a little bit – a huge motivation for the opponent.

“We started the match trying to test how they were tactically, and we were more or less getting better. The first half was equal, but I think we dominate more with the positioning.

“Second half, we started very good, scoring the goal and having other chances to score. We felt comfortable and confident. We played always with being organised as the first demand.”

The Boss’ thoughts from tonight as we take a 1-0 advantage back to Villa Park next Thursday #UEL pic.twitter.com/IXqawEeeL4

— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) March 12, 2026

Watkins ended a run of 12 appearances without a goal in major European competition, netting for the first time since a goal against Celtic in the Champions League in January 2025.

“He [Watkins] is working and being consistent with his task,” added Emery.

“Then, of course, he’s scoring, but we need more numbers with the other players.

“The most important thing is how we played a serious match, always expecting everything and with our game plan to play strongly for 90 minutes.”