‘Very proud’: Emery namedrops Arsenal after Villarreal reach Champions League semi-final

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It’s slightly ironic that the last time Villarreal reached the semi-finals of the Champions League, it was against Arsenal.

On that day, it was late, late heartache for the Yellow Submarine, with Jens Lehmann saving a stoppage-time penalty to send the Gunners into their first-ever final, but fast forward to today and an ex-Arsenal man has guided Villarreal to that very same position again.

Villarreal could face English opposition again, this time in the form of Liverpool, but regardless of what happens, Unai Emery has done a fine, fine job with the La Liga side.

During his post-match interview, after the Europa League winners knocked Bayern Munich out of the competition last night, Emery mentioned that previous semi-final back in 2006 against Arsenal and how he was ‘very proud’ of the project and journey everyone has been involved in since then.

Life didn’t go as Emery would have liked in north London, in truth, he was ridiculed and mocked at times.

But, the 50-year-old is certainly answering those critics now, as he is three games away from possibly becoming champions of Europe.

This is what Emery had to say after the game, whilst speaking to CBS Sports, regarding his side’s achievements at the Allianz Arena.

“Very proud of our work, our players, supporters, chairman and owners,” said Emery. “This project is for them.

“We started here 24 years ago to combine in this project to do something important.

“They play it, the semi-final against Arsenal 15 years ago and to repeat again, for me, I am very proud of everyone working here.

“We are a small city. But this project is a strong project. We have facilities to achieve only good objectives. We achieved last year in the Europa League, but we made one step more this year.”

Emery will be tuning into Liverpool’s second leg tie against Benfica on Wedesday night because a semi-final against the Premier League giants awaits.

Jurgen Klopp and his players hold a two-goal lead from the first-leg against Benfica and should see this one through at Anfield.

But, as Villarreal have proven, crazier things have happened in this competition and those in Benfica colours will want to cause further upset in a few hours time.