Aston Villa head coach Unai Emery has expressed confidence that his team is ready to vie for major trophies as they gear up to face Bologna in their third Champions League fixture of the season.
The Birmingham-based club has emerged victorious in both of their Champions League matches so far, marking their return to European football’s top-tier competition for the first time since the 1982-83 season.
"I don't want to waste my time here, that is my message. You can't waste your time here," Emery stated during a press conference on Monday.
"My objective here is to keep the same level we have now, Champions League and add more to be contenders for titles.
"This is the message, we love football, we love our work and we want to be successful."
Villa Park is set to host its second Champions League match — the tournament was renamed from the European Cup at the start of the 1992 season — following Jhon Durán's remarkable winning goal against Bayern Munich in their previous outing.
Emery emphasized that he doesn't want his team to be just participants and reiterated his ambition for the club to qualify for the competition consistently.
"We want to achieve the objectives and one of them is to play in the Champions League. It is not about playing there only because of some circumstances -- I want to us to stay there for a long time," the Spanish coach said.
"But it is difficult. Maybe sometimes you can have some problems or struggle in our way, but you have to be resilient. We want to be strong in the idea in our mind and create a strong mentality to always break barriers.
"We can believe, working like we are doing, we can keep it. This is my challenge, this is my objective now.”
Liverpool fans are eagerly awaiting news regarding the extent of Diogo Jota's injury, which forced him to leave the pitch during the team’s 2-1 win against Chelsea.
In the first half, Jota was injured following a challenge from Tosin Adarabioyo near the halfway line. He was substituted after just 30 minutes, with Darwin Nunez stepping in for him.
Currently, Jota is undergoing assessments from Liverpool’s medical team, but coach Arne Slot is preparing for the possibility that he will miss the Champions League match against RB Leipzig on Wednesday.
Following the match, Slot remarked on Liverpool's website, "Diogo had to be substituted, and I am not sure what it is, but I’d be surprised if he is there on Wednesday.
"Should Jota be unavailable, Nunez is almost certain to start against Leipzig, despite his challenging start to the season under Slot, having only netted once so far.
If Jota ends up sidelined for a few weeks, it will place significant pressure on Darwin to find the net during a tough series of matches.
According to Physio Scout on X/Twitter, Jota is thought to have sustained a rib injury from the collision. Although he attempted to continue after an on-field evaluation, he ultimately could not.
The potential scenarios for Jota's injury include either a rib contusion (bruise) or a rib fracture.
Rib injuries typically involve pain management, with recovery from a contusion generally taking 1-2 weeks. However, scans are necessary to confirm the absence of a fracture, which would prolong the recovery time.
Rib injuries are known for being particularly painful, which may explain why Jota was unable to carry on playing. If it is confirmed as a rib contusion, he might return in a couple of weeks; conversely, a fracture could lead to a recovery period of 4-6 weeks.
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