“
In the town where I was born lived a man who sailed to sea and he told us of his life in the land of submarines
”.
These first four bars of the
Beatles
' song
Yellow Submarine
could easily be hummed by fans of the
Villarreal Club de Fútbol
, also known as
"the yellow submarine" .
in reference to the dazzling color of his shirt.
This man who crossed the seas is Unai Emery.
Since the beginning of his career, the Spaniard has fought in four countries: Spain, France, England and Russia.
If outside the lands of Cervantes the fights turned out to be harder than he imagined, when it comes to orchestrating a Spanish club the notes are often more accurate.
This Wednesday evening, Villarreal faces Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals of the Champions League and hopes to continue performing its favorite song for two seasons for as long as possible: the hymn to joy.
To discover
Champions League fixtures and results
The summer of 2020 is a milestone for Villarreal, which has gone against the tide of most European clubs.
To cope with the economic crisis caused by the health crisis, many of them have sought to sell rather than buy, Villarreal saw this as an opportunity.
The arrivals of Dani Parejo and Francis Coquelin from Valencia for barely 10 million euros are a good symbol of this great sellout that has gripped European football.
It was also during this period that Unai Emery joined the club with the main objective of taking it to the next level by winning the first major trophy in its history.
“Our story is recent, but it is there.
»
Unai Emery
Emery's first season at Villarreal is punctuated by the Europa League, the Basque coach's flagship competition.
Easily qualified for the round of 16 by finishing undefeated in a relatively simple pool, the
Groguets
moved up a gear by eliminating Red Bull Salzburg, Dynamo Kiev and Dinamo Zagreb by conceding only two small goals.
To reach the final, Unai Emery must face his former employer: Arsenal and his young coach Mikel Arteta.
“
Our story is recent, but it is there.
We have a solid structure, we are competitive against experienced teams
,” announces Emery.
"
But when you face a team like Arsenal, they are the favourites.
We are just pretenders.
But we want to take up this challenge
.”
This challenge, the yellow submarine will take up perfectly.
Victory 2-1 in the first leg, draw 0-0 in the return and a first final in the European history of Villarreal.
Faced with Manchester United, it is in the mind that the yellows will win after an endless penalty shootout where all the players still on the field will have tried their luck.
This victory in the Europa League is the foundation of what Unai Emery is building within this team which won the first title in its history that evening.
Villarreal lift the Europa League after beating Manchester United (1-1) AI/Reuters/Panoramic
This season it is in the Champions League that the Spanish club is playing spoilsport.
His favorite target?
Italian teams.
On December 9, Villarreal triumphed over Atalanta (2-3) in a match that looked like the round of 16 and won the qualification at the expense of Gasperini's men.
Three months later, it's Juventus' turn to fall into the trap.
After a solid draw at the
Ceramica
(1-1) Gerard Moreno and his teammates send the old lady to the Ehpad and win 3-0 in the return match.
If this qualification may seem surprising, it is explained by the work carried out by Emery and the intelligent choices of the leaders who have created a real team of captains where Raul Albiol, Dani Parejo, Etienne Capoue and Francis Coquelin put their leadership and experience to benefit.
Read alsoChampions League: "I love the C3, but I also want to take advantage of the C1 a little", smiles Emery after the qualification of Villarreal
Tonight against Bayern it's much more than experience that will be needed.
In the Champions League, the Bavarians remain on a prestigious 7-1 victory against Red Bull Salzburg after being jostled in the first leg 1-1.
It is therefore a real challenge that awaits the former PSG coach, aware of the level of the reigning German champion.
“We want to experience a special moment at La Ceramica.
We got rid of Atalanta from Young Boys, Juventus, we faced Manchester United and Chelsea last year... All this experience that we acquire makes us put into perspective the fact that we are the surprise of those quarter-finals, where people say we have no chance of going through.
We are here because we deserve it.
We must face this challenge as naturally as possible.
Now, it's true, to do that, we will have to play a perfect match.
And we are ready for that,”
explains Unai Emery at a press conference.
See you this Wednesday for this match where the yellow submarine will do everything to
“stay alive after these first 90 minutes at home.”
in any case, this is what the Spanish maestro wants.