Emery and Aston Villa ready for penalties in Champions League if needed against Brugge

The Villans have a 3-1 lead heading into the second leg.

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Aston Villa boss Unai Emery

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery is prepared for all scenarios when Club Brugge visit the Midlands on Wednesday.

The Premier League side hold a two-goal advantage following the first leg in Belgium, but that has not stopped the former Sevilla boss from preparing for potential extra-time and penalties.

Speaking ahead of the game, he said: “Nothing changes [because of the two-goal lead].

“It’s football. Anything can happen. A match can change so quick.

“[In the first leg] we won in two quick actions towards the end. We are ready in case we need extra time and we are ready if we need a penalty shootout.”

Villa’s debut in the competition has been remarkable and they are on course to follow in the footsteps of Leicester in the 2016-17 season and reach the quarter-finals at the first time of asking.

But the club find themselves in a tricky situation as they look to navigate Europe and the Premier League, where they are in a race to return to the competition next season.

Emery added: “We want to improve and get better in each process. We have to see it on the field. We need to show it. We are doing that at the moment more or less.

“We are getting better but we are under our own expectations in the Premier League. We have to try to get the balance n the next weeks and months in the league.

“But everything we are doing in the Champions League and the FA Cup is fantastic. To keep it going is the challenge. I don’t want to stop. I want to get something more.

“But we know how demanding it can be to achieve our collective an individual objectives in the coming weeks.”

One player who is not too concerned about the task ahead is Matty Cash.

The defender believes he is part of the best Villa team ever and is expecting no problems in both the European and domestic competitions.

He said: This is the best squad – with all due respect to the squads we’ve had before – we’ve had in the years I’ve been here. If you look at every single position, we are strong.”

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Mitch Fretton

Mitch is a freelance sports journalist with experience working for LiveScore, GOAL and Colchester United. He has experience working from both his desk at home and in the press box at games covering the Champions League and international football.

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