Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has huge ‘respect’ for Villarreal’s Unai Emery going into the UEFA Super Cup
Thomas Tuchel earned the chance to go up against Villarreal boss, Unai Emery, in the UEFA Super Cup this month when Chelsea beat Manchester City 1-0 in the Champions League final in May.
The Blues were in impeccable form under Thomas Tuchel for the duration of the knockout stages and deserved their place in UEFA’s one-off match for the Super Cup title on August 11th. However, this isn’t a new stage for them.
In fact, Chelsea, have been here four times before but haven’t managed a Super Cup win in the last 23 years. The Blues lost to Liverpool in the 2019 game when they earned their spot after winning the Europa League vs Arsenal.
Before that, they lost successive games in 2012 and 2013 to Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich respectively. Their only win in this competition dates all the way back to 1998 when they beat Real Madrid in Monaco.
A chance to creat history
Tuchel would be desperate to change that and would be eager to win his second Chelsea trophy. However, he is well aware of Unai Emery’s reputation in European competitions as he revealed in an interview on UEFA.com.
“I have huge respect for Villarreal, I have huge respect for Unai Emery. I mean, they can call the [UEFA Europa League] trophy the Unai Emery trophy soon! This guy is incredible. He’s played five finals and won it four times – this is crazy.”
Elaborating further, the former PSG and Borussia Dortmund boss explained that the Blues will be wary of what a Spanish team like Villarreal can bring to the table. The Yellow Submarines, of course, beat Manchester United in the final of the UEL.
“And with Spanish teams, you have to be very careful. They love this game, and they play this game for ball possession, and they play it with lots and lots of genuine courage. So I think they will approach this game [feeling that] they have nothing to lose. But what nicer thing than to start the season with a European final. We will take it very, very seriously and do as best we can to take the next trophy home.”
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It would be an exciting encounter to watch and while some may not rate it as a major trophy, it still stands as a significant piece of silverware for any team to add to their trophy cabinet.