Europa League: Emery puts Tielemans in his place, then reassures

Unai Emery and Youri Tielemans drew attention during Aston Villa’s victory away at Fenerbahçe in the Europa League. In the dying moments of the match, the Spanish manager showed visible frustration as he directed the Belgian midfielder firmly towards the bench.

On the pitch, Aston Villa opened the scoring as early as the 25th minute through Jadon Sancho. The English side then saw two goals disallowed after VAR intervention, as did Fenerbahçe, whose equalizer was also chalked off. To protect the lead in stoppage time, Emery made a tactical switch, bringing off Tielemans for the young George Hemmings. The coach’s gesture sparked a flurry of reactions.

After the match, Unai Emery downplayed the incident, insisting he has no issue with his player, whom he described as “like a son.” Thanks to this victory, Aston Villa secures direct qualification for the Europa League round of 16 and sits second in the standings, level on points with Olympique Lyonnais.

Aliou Toundé |

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