At 0:45 Beijing time (CEST) on September 9, Aston Villa will face Club Brugge away in the Champions League group stage. Villa manager Emery attended a press conference on Monday evening to update on the team's injury situation and discuss Villa's start compared to previous seasons.

Villa's personnel update

Injuries are normal for us. There are no changes to our current situation. When we only have two players for each position, some young players are trying to show their potential, like George Hemmings, who is performing well.

Other players can get injured, and we need to be prepared with replacements. João Gomes, who was suspended for the last Premier League match, is now available to play.

Goretzka's injury is disappointing, but we have players who can replace him, such as Ross Barkley, Gomes, Bogarde, and Kamara. When Goretzka returns, I hope he can continue training consistently and regain his fitness. We can integrate his experience into the team because when we signed him, we valued the extensive experience he brings. He is a player who can perform at his best across different competitions.

Also, new signing Manzambi is recovering well but is not yet available to play.

On Villa's return to the Champions League

Of course, we are highly motivated and really want to compete in this competition. It's wonderful to play in European competitions.

We previously played in the Europa Conference League, and two years ago we competed in the Champions League together. Last year, we achieved success in the Europa League. Returning to the Champions League again is a notable achievement. How we accomplished this allows us to continue taking pride in our performance. Last season, we finished fourth in the league and won the Europa League.

But this is a new chapter, and it's completely different. When we came to Villa, our vision was to set the highest standards, but we did not expect to compete in European competitions for four consecutive years, let alone qualify for the Champions League twice.

It was truly difficult in the early stages of our work here, but this is a vision developed together with the club's owners. At the same time, we set high standards for our players, requiring them to strive for their goals, and we are currently doing that. Now is the time to reflect on this moment: why we are here and how we got here. Today, we are entering a new phase, a new chapter, and we will play as we have done over the past three years.

Of course, over the past three years, we have continuously improved and gradually built a solid foundation, reaching our current level, competing in Europe, winning titles, and achieving great satisfaction at our competitive level.

The vision we have now is similar to my previous thinking and aligns with the club's vision. We have set goals for the coming years, including goals for today, this year, and next year, all of which have been established.

How can we maintain this standard again? We need to adjust some players, particularly key players. But this year we have replaced these key players, and last year as well, though not to this extent, because the personnel changes in this summer's transfer window are more extensive than before.

However, we are gradually replacing those key players. We have experienced players, such as Buendía, who deserves to stay with the team and now needs to take on more responsibility and try to utilize the experience of our current squad.

Of course, we have also brought in many new experienced players this summer, such as Goretzka. Additionally, there are some young players from other clubs, such as Garnacho, Mbaye, Jackson, and others. They are also new signings, and we need to adapt them into our team as quickly as possible tactically and philosophically, while also integrating them into our system rapidly. We will do our best to help them adapt better to the new environment so they feel comfortable and confident in our system.

I'm not sure how long this will take, and that's not something I'm thinking about right now. My intention is to give everything and fight hard in every match.

We prioritize achieving good results in the Premier League by season's end, because through that, we can reach the goals we set each year, and we never stop improving. It's still not good enough, because our current results are not ideal. Tomorrow will bring a new challenge, a European challenge, an away Champions League match against a team like Club Brugge.

Club Brugge also plays well. They have faced us three times in two years and have shown us their strength. Different managers, different players, some players repeating past performances, and we also have new players, a new squad, plus the difficulties of European competitions—all of this exists.

Tomorrow we must focus, respect our opponent, fight hard, and the entire team must try to perform at their best. I think in our last match against Hull City, our overall performance improved slightly, and individual level also improved. Progress in both aspects is our challenge.

Comparing this season to last season

I don't like making too many comparisons. After all, circumstances differ each year, and the start is different too, but facing situations like this at the beginning of the season is normal, because fundamentally it's similar.

Last year, we had a very poor start, but gradually improved, and eventually performed very well throughout the season. However, it's not easy to repeat such results. Last season, we had a slow start in the Premier League, then won at home against Bologna in the Champions League, and after that, we started improving, made continuous progress, and then won several matches in succession.

Of course, this is just one example, one experience, and I think we can learn from it. We must be enthusiastic, but at the same time, we must be clear about the efforts we need to make, and we must prepare as thoroughly as possible for each match.

Playing away tomorrow—away matches are always harder to play. We have some experience playing away in European competitions at Villa, playing away in the Europa Conference League three years ago, then away in the Champions League, and we also had to face challenges away in the Europa League last season.

When we lost away to Go Ahead Eagles last year, perhaps at that time we felt we were strong favorites to win, but in European competitions, being a strong favorite can be dangerous for you. In summary, you must respect everything, you must try your best to prepare for every match, and you must also deal with opposing fans.

We have another experience: two years ago, we lost to Club Brugge away, 0-1. At that time, our performance was not ideal, and we did not play at the level we should have. These are experiences, and each experience helps us understand how difficult tomorrow's match will be.

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