07 March 2024 , 21:21
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Unai Emery wants to win the Europa Conference League - but his focus was fixed on a bigger prize on Thursday.
The Spaniard gambled by making wholesale changes to his line-up ahead of Sunday’s crunch clash with Spurs. Victory over Ange Postecoglou’s men will go a long way towards cementing fourth spot.
That will guarantee Villa’s place in the Champions League for the first time - and wily old fox Emery was taking no chances. He swapped out almost half his side for the first leg of this last 16 tie against the former Dutch masters who are piecing their campaign together after a dreadful start in the Eredivisie.
Villa’s boss said he had nothing on his mind but Europe although he handed first starts to Morgan Rogers and Tim Iroegbunam. More worryingly for Villa, influential defender Pau Torres came off at half-time.
Emery said: “I wasn’t really thinking about Sunday. We started with Tim because, apart from him, we don’t have another player like him after Boubacar Kamara’s injury. We decided to play with Torres but knew that playing with him for 90 minutes would be taking a risk. John McGinn had small pain and was a doubt. I prefer also not to take a risk.”
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Emery played with a note of caution in Amsterdam (Hollandse Hoogte/REX/Shutterstock)The smart money will be on Villa skipper McGinn and Torres returning to face the north Londoners after this dull tie was left hanging in the balance. Jordan Henderson, Ajax’s skipper, was a calming presence in a game that captured the imagination of the Amsterdam public who produced an atmosphere that was fit for a far bigger stage.
The problem was that while Villa weren’t prepared to over-commit themselves, neither were the hosts. Chances were non-existent. Big Ajax striker Brian Brobbey fluffed one good opportunity when well-positioned in the first half. Visitors’ keeper Emi Martinez pulled off a smart stop from Kenneth Taylor just after the hour.
Jordan Henderson captained Ajax against Villa (DeFodi Images via Getty Images)Ollie Watkins saw one goalbound effort blocked but made a header on his own goalline to keep the game goalless. That was pretty much it. Ezri Konsa was dismissed by picky referee Enea Jorgji late on for two bookable offences. The match official evened up the score when dismissing Tristan Gooijer for similar indiscretions. Villa were left with McGinn, who came off the subs’ bench, deputising at centre-half.
Emery admitted he had one eye on the return leg next week at Villa Park, saying: “We were planning to play 90 minutes today - and keep in our mind the next 90 minutes. The players were a little doubtful at half-time and I told them it’s always difficult to play in Europe. And taking a good result here is better than worse.”
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