The ultimate combined XI of Unai Emery’s six Europa League final-reaching squads | OneFootball

The Europa League is Unai Emery’s competition and everyone else is just living in it.

Emery is currently preparing for his sixth Europa League final, aiming for Aston Villa’s first piece of major silverware since the 1996 League Cup. Back in those days, the current Villa boss was a 24-year-old playing for Real Sociedad.

His history in the competition bodes well. Of his previous five finals, Emery has won four.

He lifted three in a row with Sevilla between 2014 and 2016. A runner-up with Arsenal in 2019, he got his hands on the trophy again with Villarreal in 2021.

Now, he has taken a talented Aston Villa group all the way to the final against Freiburg.

But how does the squad at his disposal compare to some of the teams he’s taken to finals before?

We’ve made a combined XI out of Emery’s Europa League final-reaching squads.

GK: Emiliano Martinez

Martinez has put himself into the bracket of the world’s best goalkeepers during his time with Villa, playing in 10 games of their run to the Europa League final.

He’s certainly come a long way since his days in Arsenal obscurity. The Argentine actually played the last game of the 2018-19 group stage for the Gunners under Emery before being loaned out mid-season.

In time, Martinez came to realise he’d need to leave Arsenal to prove himself, and he has grasped that opportunity at Villa.

RB: Coke

Part of the Sevilla squad for all three Europa League titles under Emery, Coke started the 2014 and 2016 finals, coming on as a sub in the 2015 final in between.

Captaining the side against Liverpool in 2016, Coke scored a crucial brace to win his side a third consecutive Europa League trophy.

As player of the match, he went out on a high, later leaving the club that summer in a move their sporting director Monchi came to admit was a mistake.

CB: Raul Albiol

Albiol was something of a force of nature during Villarreal’s road to European glory. Aged 35 at the time, the centre-back played every single minute of the knockout stage, scoring twice along the way.

He also scored a penalty in the shootout against Manchester United that won it for the Yellow Submarine.

And he’s still playing in his forties now.

CB: Pau Torres

Torres will be hoping to start a second Europa League final under Emery after previously being an important part of his Villarreal squad in 2020-21.

The Spanish defender scored a penalty in the crucial shootout against Manchester United.

Two years later, he reunited with Emery at Villa. He’s been in and out of the side in the Premier League this season, but has started 11 games in the Europa League.

LB: Nacho Monreal

Unusually, Emery had a different left-back for each of his three Europa League finals with Sevilla: Alberto Moreno, then Benoit Tremoulinas, and finally (while Moreno lined up on the other side for Liverpool) Sergio Escudero.

Both Monreal and Sead Kolasinac started in his Arsenal final, the former on the left of a three and the latter at wing-back, and Alfonso Pedraza was his starter for Villarreal. It will be either Lucas Digne or Ian Maatsen for Villa.

There’s not much in it, but we’re sticking the reliable Monreal at left-back in this XI.

DM: Grzegorz Krychowiak

So fond was Emery of Krychowiak that he took him with him to PSG in 2016 after their spells with Sevilla.

The Polish enforcer played the 2015 and 2016 Europa League finals in full and was named in the competition’s squad of the season each time.

Realistically, he peaked at Sevilla, since his PSG spell was more challenging and his efforts in the Premier League with West Brom weren’t particularly memorable.

But Krychowiak was a cornerstone for two of Emery’s three Europa League successes with Sevilla.

CM: Ivan Rakitic

Captain at the start of Sevilla’s trilogy of Europa League wins under Emery, Rakitic oozed class in midfield. He was named in the team of the season not just for the Europa League, but for La Liga as well.

It earned him a move to Barcelona, where he followed up his Europa League triumph by winning the Champions League at the first time of asking.

One of the standout midfielders of his generation, Rakitic later returned to Sevilla after making more than 300 appearances for Barca.

CM: Ever Banega

If we were going for pure quality at the peak of their powers, we’d have given Mesut Ozil the last midfield place in this XI, but he wasn’t at his best under Emery at Arsenal.

Villa captain John McGinn deserves to be in with a shout after his five goals on the route to this season’s final, but the nostalgic pick is Banega.

Signed in the summer after Emery’s first Europa League with Sevilla, he was named in the tournament’s squad of the season for each of the next two.

The same happened when he won the competition again in his second spell with Sevilla, this time coached by Julen Lopetegui.

RW: Vitolo

Vitolo usually played on the left for Sevilla, but we just had to get him in the team here and that means putting him on the right, a position he wasn’t totally unfamiliar with.

The winger started all three of Sevilla’s Europa League finals under Emery, assisting the winning goal in the second.

In fact, no player has ever assisted more Europa League goals for Emery teams than Vitolo with his 11.

LW: Morgan Rogers

Rogers has continued to cement his reputation with Villa this season, scoring twice and adding four assists on their Europa League run so far.

Able to play as an attacking midfielder or left winger, the 23-year-old will be hoping to have an impact in the final to gain a first career trophy.

CF: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

Emery has had some prolific Europa League strikers before, from Carlos Bacca and Kevin Gameiro at Sevilla, to Gerard Moreno and Paco Alcacer at Villarreal and, of course, Ollie Watkins in his current Villa squad.

But Aubameyang was close to his peak in the 2018-19 season for Arsenal, scoring eight goals from 10 starts.

Emery inspired Aubameyang’s best Arsenal season, which also included 22 Premier League goals – enough for the (shared) golden boot.