Unai Emery says it is his “dream” to win the Premier League and Champions League with Aston Villa after guiding the club to a top-four finish in the English top flight.
Tottenham’s 2-0 defeat by Manchester City in midweek guaranteed the Birmingham club will end the Premier League season in fourth place regardless of the result of their match at Crystal Palace on Sunday’s final day of the campaign.
Emery wants his team, who beat title contenders Manchester City and Arsenal this season, to set their sights on the biggest prizes.
“When we were in the middle of the season, playing two matches at home against Manchester City and Arsenal and we won both, we were there,” Villa manager Emery said on Friday.
“Those teams are amazingly consistent and competitive, with very good players. They have the best coaches as well — Mikel Arteta, Pep Guardiola.
“I want to get better always. I have my dreams and I believe in my dreams.”
The 52-year-old Spaniard added: “My objective is to win the Premier League, my objective is to win the Champions League, but it’s very, very difficult. I want to dream with our supporters and the players and to believe always in our work.
“Of course, we’re not contenders, but it’s in our dreams to get something like that in the Premier League or Champions League.”
Villa suffered a 6-2 aggregate defeat to Greek side Olympiakos in the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League but the former Arsenal boss believes his side will learn from their experience in Europe’s third-tier tournament.
“I enjoyed being in the Conference League this year. I enjoyed the way we did and the experiences we had,” he said. “We didn’t win but the experiences we had, with some players playing for the first time in Europe, was fantastic.
“Everything we are doing here is progressively getting better.”
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