Nottingham Forest vs. Aston Villa: Unai Emery says players 'cannot be selfish' during Premier League, Europa League run-in

Unai Emery has stated that his Aston Villa players 'cannot beryllium selfish' implicit the people of the adjacent period arsenic they bid to unafraid Champions League qualification.

After missing retired connected playing astatine European football's apical array successful 2025-26, Villa are bidding to gain a instrumentality for adjacent season.

As good arsenic sitting successful 5th presumption successful the Premier League table, Villa are presently preparing for the archetypal limb of their Europa League semi-final against Nottingham Forest.

With a showdown against Tottenham Hotspur connected Sunday sandwiched betwixt the 2 continental games, Emery volition person to see important squad rotation.

Speaking astatine a property league connected Wednesday, the Spaniard stressed that each squad subordinate should beryllium prepared to judge his decisions.

Emery calls for Villa unity up of Forest double-header, Spurs

Despite the demand, it is unclear whether Emery was indicating that immoderate of his players had expressed vexation down the scenes.

He told reporters: "We are successful the semi-final of the Europa League and adjacent the extremity of the Premier League season, with our people truthful adjacent and precise important - to execute European qualification and Champions League shot adjacent season.

"Every subordinate indispensable beryllium focused, playing with excitement and acceptable to play 90 minutes, 30 minutes, oregon adjacent conscionable a fewer minutes - this is the infinitesimal to contribute.

"Now is not the clip for idiosyncratic players to beryllium selfish. Now is the clip for the squad to beryllium together. Everybody is progressive successful a cardinal infinitesimal this season, and successful the important people we are facing."

Villa to 'use experience' of semi-final disappointments

Emery is participating successful his 3rd semi-final with Villa, the erstwhile 2 ending successful decision to Olympiacos successful the Conference League and Crystal Palace successful the FA Cup.

Nevertheless, Emery hopes that his players tin larn from those experiences, saying: "Different competitions, antithetic circumstances. The semi-final against Olympiacos 2 years ago, we lost, but we were besides successful the Premier League warring to decorativeness fourth.

"We finished that play bushed and with immoderate injuries. We lost, we accepted it, and it was a process we went done astatine that moment.

"Last year, we played the FA Cup semi-final and went to Wembley. It was my archetypal acquisition of a semi-final astatine Wembley successful the FA Cup. We mislaid against Crystal Palace - different experience. But they were 2 antithetic situations: against Olympiacos it was implicit 2 legs, and against Crystal Palace successful the FA Cup it was 90 minutes.

"We are going to usage those experiences to bash amended this time."

Emery and Villa volition besides person two European records successful their sights erstwhile they look Forest contiguous and successful the reverse fixture successful the West Midlands.