Aston Villa Targetkan Trofi Liga Europa Menjelang Laga Final

Skuad Aston Villa bersiap melakoni pertandingan final Liga Europa melawan SC Freiburg di Stadion Tupras, Istanbul, Turki, pada Rabu, 20 Mei 2026 pukul 15.00 waktu setempat. Pertandingan penentu ini menjadi momentum besar bagi klub asal Inggris tersebut untuk mengakhiri puasa gelar mayor yang telah berlangsung selama tiga puluh tahun.

Menjelang pertandingan krusial ini, Manajer Aston Villa Unai Emery menegaskan bahwa pencapaian masa lalunya di kompetisi ini tidak akan memengaruhi hasil laga. Emery tercatat pernah memenangi kompetisi ini tiga kali bersama Sevilla dan sekali dengan Villarreal, tetapi ia memilih fokus pada masa kini.

"I am not a king in this competition." kata Emery dilansir dari espn.com.

Pelatih asal Spanyol tersebut menjelaskan bahwa fokusnya saat ini sepenuhnya tercurah untuk membawa skuad Aston Villa yang sekarang demi mengukir era baru bagi klub Inggris tersebut.

"I am now with Aston Villa in a new chapter and everything I did is done. It's there in that moment, but with it I am not winning tomorrow." ujar Emery.

Emery menambahkan bahwa performa anak asuhnya di Liga Konferensi dan Liga Champions sebelumnya telah menunjukkan kapasitas tim untuk bersaing di level tertinggi.

"I need to win tomorrow with the players we have now, with Aston Villa now, with the opponent we face tomorrow. So it's a new way, a new moment and hopefully a new era." kata Emery.

Mantan pelatih Arsenal itu juga tidak ingin terlalu banyak membahas pencapaian yang sudah berlalu di masa lalu.

"I don't want to speak a lot about the thing we did before." tutur Emery.

Ia menyadari adanya tekanan besar dalam laga final, namun ia meminta para pemain untuk melihat tekanan tersebut sebagai hal yang positif.

"Now, this year, and the matches we played before in the Conference League or in the Champions League, and they are showing the capacity to play at a high level." sebut Emery.

Emery menekankan pentingnya mengelola emosi dalam pertandingan krusial seperti ini.

"This is a process. A process [for] how we could achieve, building the team and our structure." kata Emery.

Pengalaman bertanding di berbagai laga besar dinilai akan membantu Aston Villa dalam menghadapi tekanan di partai puncak.

"Now it's a new experience we will have tomorrow. It's very important how we manage our emotions and we've done it for a lot of matches and there are a lot of emotions." jelas Emery.

Emery menyatakan tekanan muncul karena tim sedang memperjuangkan sesuatu yang sangat penting bagi sejarah klub.

"The pressure is here as well, but we must try to understand the pressure like something positive, not negative. And the pressure is when you are playing for something important. And of course we have experience here." kata Emery.

Meskipun Aston Villa sempat memulai awal musim ini dengan buruk, Emery memuji kedewasaan para pemainnya yang mampu bangkit dari masa-masa sulit.

"We started so poorly at the beginning of the season for different reasons. But how the players responded in the difficult moments was really amazing." ungkap Emery.

Kerja keras bersama antara jajaran pelatih dan pemain menjadi kunci utama penyelesaian masalah tersebut.

"We were mature in the difficult moments. This is the most important characteristic we had during the season — mature and responsible." kata Emery.

Emery mengakui sempat merasa sangat cemas pada awal musim sebelum akhirnya menemukan solusi yang tepat.

"I was worried at the beginning. Really worried. I was always trying to find solutions in each moment. I needed the players, I needed the work we did and the reaction we did. But we did it together." pungkas Emery.

Sementara itu, bek tengah Ezri Konsa membagikan cerita mengenai dukungan yang diberikan oleh Pangeran William, pendukung setia Aston Villa, yang kerap mengunjungi ruang ganti tim. Konsa mengungkapkan perasaan bangganya atas apresiasi yang diberikan oleh sang pangeran terhadap gaya bermainnya.

“Sejak saya bergabung, ia telah menunjukkan dukungan yang luar biasa, datang ke ruang ganti dan memperlakukan kami dengan sangat hormat,” kata Konsa saat berbicara kepada The Telegraph.

Bek Villa tersebut menceritakan bagaimana situasi menegangkan saat bertemu dengan pewaris takhta Inggris tersebut baru disadari para pemain setelah pertandingan berakhir.

“I don't know much about his football knowledge, but he once called me ‘Rolls-Royce’. I'll take that. It sticks in my head, and it feels good.” ujar Konsa.

Konsa menambahkan bahwa kehadiran Pangeran William yang sempat merayakan kemenangan semifinal atas Nottingham Forest di Villa Park juga menjadi pengalaman edukatif bagi beberapa pemain asing di skuad.

“It's strange because on matchday, when he comes in, you're focused on the game and being in the moment, and you don't realize how big it is for him to come and say hello to everyone and shake their hands,” jelas sang bek.

Bagi beberapa rekan setimnya yang berasal dari berbagai negara, kunjungan tersebut membantu mereka memahami signifikansi figur kerajaan Inggris tersebut bagi klub.

“Sometimes you get caught up in it, then you go home and think, ‘Oh my god, I just shook his hand, and he knows my name and everything about me.’ To have his support is amazing, not just for the club but for the players.” tambah Konsa.

Dukungan dari pihak kerajaan menjadi suntikan moral yang besar di saat Pangeran William kini diperkirakan bertolak ke Turki untuk menyaksikan perjuangan tim meraih trofi besar pertama sejak Piala Liga 1996.

“Some of the players didn't know who he was before, because they come from different countries, so for them to learn about him and know who he is, it means a lot,” tambahnya.

Kapten Aston Villa, John McGinn, turut menyatakan rasa bangganya terhadap posisi klub saat ini dan menegaskan fokus penuh skuad untuk menghormati kekuatan SC Freiburg.

"It fills me with pride as to where the club is now, and it also fills me with pride as to where this club could go," kata McGinn.

McGinn menyatakan tim tidak ingin larut dalam perayaan dini sebelum laga usai karena menyadari tingginya tingkat kesulitan untuk mencapai babak final.

"As the manager [Emery] has touched upon, this isn't something we want to come here and celebrate in a sort of fanfare. We want to be focused on this match; we know how good Freiburg are." ujar McGinn.

Bagi gelandang tersebut, memimpin Aston Villa di kompetisi Eropa ini menjadi pencapaian tertinggi dalam karier profesionalnya sebagai kapten tim.

"We know how difficult it is to get to a final. So we'll treat them with the utmost respect, like they deserve. And we will only build as a club if we keep doing the same things we are doing." tutur McGinn.

McGinn menegaskan signifikansi laga ini bagi dirinya secara personal setelah bertahun-tahun membela Aston Villa.

"But if you ask on a personal level after all the years I've been here, it definitely is the proudest moment as captain here." kata McGinn.

Mantan penyerang Aston Villa, Dion Dublin, melalui BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast ikut memberikan ulasan mengenai besarnya arti pertandingan final ini bagi para suporter pendukung klub.

"It's absolutely huge. I was at the club for six years, in the late nineties and early noughties, I was playing with Ginola, Merson and Southgate, some of the best players ever and we didn't really achieve anything either." kata Dublin.

Dublin menilai manajemen klub telah mengambil keputusan tepat dengan memberikan kontrol penuh kepada Unai Emery, yang berhasil memaksimalkan performa pemain kunci seperti John McGinn, Morgan Rogers, dan Ollie Watkins.

"The fans have had to wait a long time for any success at all, any trophies. Now it is here, with this group of players under one of the best managers this football club could ever get hold of. I think the balance between Unai Emery and Villa is a very, very good match. It works, they have given him full control. The players have got on board and look where they are, look at the players they have." urai Dublin.