By John Townley
Copyright birminghammail
Unai Emery wants his Aston Villa squad to embrace the club’s rich history as they face Feyenoord at De Kuip on Thursday night. The 51,000-seat stadium in Rotterdam was, of course, the site of Villa’s greatest triumph – over 43 years ago, they beat Bayern Munich 1-0 in the European Cup final. Villa will be looking to secure back-to-back wins in the Europa League on Thursday, having started their third European campaign under Emery with a 1-0 victory over Bologna, before following it up with a Premier League win against Fulham on Sunday. A victory at De Kuip, on the club’s return to the iconic stadium, would make the three points all the more special. “In 1982 Aston Villa won here,” Emery started. “Last year we played against Bayern Munich, the team they faced. That was something very special. “Today we can remember this for our supporters. A lot of them were here, and we are now back. This is European football, something special. “We can add this detail because it is something very special for Aston Villa as a club and for Aston Villa supporters. We are respecting them as well because they won the European Cup in 1970 and the UEFA Cup as well. “Of course, the atmosphere here is so, so close for European football because Feyenoord are always in the Champions League or Europa League.” Asked if modern players feel that history is like the fans, Emery said: “We need to show and to get emotions. We have to feel it. We have to feel history and the present, so we can create something. Each player too. I feel it. “I played in Europe lots of years in a row, and for me it is so, so special. I am so grateful for European football and the clubs so I can play in the competitions. “I like to show my emotions and share them with the fans. We have to feel it collectively, something special.” Feyenoord have won all four of their home matches so far this season, conceding only one goal against Fenerbahce, while they also defeated Bayern and Milan at De Kuip in the Champions League last term. “Feyenoord performed fantastically in the Champions League, and every team who played them here were struggling,” Emery added. “Every team who played here. I managed here myself for Sevilla, and we lost 2-0 in 2015. “I know this environment is really supporting them and acts like another player for them. We have to dominate through our personality and try to stop them. We have to be focused for 90 minutes and respect them as the first idea we have.” Every day, the BirminghamLive football desk strive to deliver all manner of news, features and transfer-related stories as a part of our overall package of Aston Villa content. Our dedicated reporter John Townley – who you can follow on X by clicking here – follows Villa home and away and offers you comprehensive coverage from matchdays, press conferences and everything that happens in between. So much happens day to day and sometimes you can struggle to keep on top of the very latest updates as and when they occur – that’s why we have produced a daily newsletter which you can sign up to, for free, and which means you’ll have a round-up of the key stories land in your email inbox. Sign up to the Villa newsletter here . You can also get all your favourite content from BirminghamLive’s Villa team on WhatsApp. Click here to sign up for breaking updates about the biggest stories in and around the club. If you prefer reading our Villa stories on your phone, consider downloading the BirminghamLive app, in which you can personalise the content you see by selecting Villa as one of your designated topics. You can get it from Apple here and for Android here . Our weekly Aston Villa podcast, Claret And Blue, is also available to watch and listen on all major streaming services. You can subscribe to the YouTube channel here , while you can access the podcast on Spotify here and via Apple here .
