Staff who work with Unai Emery all acknowledge Aston Villa’s manager is enthralled, almost entranced, by playing in Europe.
This is his 18th consecutive year in European competitions. Villa’s trip to Turkey was his 100th match in the Europa League, 32 more than the manager with the next highest number of games in the competition, Jorge Jesus.
According to staff who work with him, who, like all of those The Athletic spoke to — unless otherwise noted — asked to do so under the condition of anonymity to protect relationships, he relishes the differing tactical strategies. Emery also loves the prestige and how playing in Europe can be uniquely intangible, with the culture and experience of playing away from home so distinct.
The differences can be fan culture, the European electro-pop music, the staccato-like roars, police blockades and the heavy traffic. On Thursday, there were queues of police and a sense of frenzy outside the stadium. That frenzy was there even with the ultras inside the ground two and a half hours early, furiously waving Turkish flags. The whistles and screams of Fenerbahce’s stadium announcer when Villa stepped onto the turf would have left some in attendance with a splitting headache.
Villa supporters had to take coaches to the stadium. Adding to the congestion, the roads were closed off to make way for their arrival and, when inside, shouts of “Villa!” were briefly heard before being drowned out by more whistles. Local journalists watched the warm-ups while lighting up cigarettes — playing in Europe is just different.
A warm welcome to Istanbul, from Fenerbahce supporters…#AVFC pic.twitter.com/U4GUqpoQT9
— Jacob Tanswell (@J_Tanswell) January 22, 2026
There is a growing experience within this Villa side. They are accustomed to playing in hostile, whistling atmospheres since returning to Europe in 2023. Villa sources say that players were told of the starting XI on Wednesday evening, with rotation the watchword, but the plan was unaffected. It panned out as Villa go into the final Europa League matchday second in the table.
There is a stark difference from the first away trip in the Conference League back in September 2023. During a baptism of fire against Legia Warsaw ultras, Villa players looked wide-eyed and apprehensive as they lost 3-2. Emery routinely talks about using “experiences” to shape a team’s overall mentality — as evidenced by the 1-0 win on Thursday night.
Fenerbahce sources admitted before kick-off that they were wary of injuries and unavailability in their midfield. They noted the impact of Villa’s No 10s and how they structure central overloads.
They spoke of Villa ranking perfectly in the middle of the data when it came to modern football trends. They explained a graph that illustrates this, showing one side is characterised by high possession, while the other is based on directness. Villa’s position on the graph suggests they can adapt, retain balance and use whatever tool available to them is needed to carry out the job.
Emery likes playing in Europe (Yasin Akgul/AFP via Getty Images)
When Villa had possession early on, the whistles were sharp and screeching. Every pass raised the noise, which was intended to intimidate the opponent.
The crowd reaching ear-splitting levels, though, had the inverse effect. While Villa stayed calm and implemented the plan of slow possession in deep areas, with the intention of drawing Fenerbahce out of shape, the hosts were agitated and willingly obliged them.
“We wanted to exploit when they were letting us have some spaces in transition,” explained Emery afterwards.
Fenerbahce appeared swept up in their supporters’ appetite for the ball. They pressed late and with no discipline, repeatedly jumping on Villa players, neglecting their position and reacting too slowly.
This was the ideal scenario for Emery’s Villa, who go into most matches actively attempting to bait opponents into pressing. Fenerbahce did not need any encouragement.
Villa kept possession but played incisively into Emiliano Buendia, Morgan Rogers and Jadon Sancho, and through the astoundingly huge spaces in central areas. It was an example of how Villa could balance ball retention with regular transitional moments, as Fenerbahce’s graphs demonstrated.
Fenerbahce saw the ball, hunted the ball, yet were being played around so often that it bordered on disbelief. Villa may have been taken aback by how easily everything was working, and were guilty of taking too long to pass or skewed the final pass or shot.
Even if the end product was absent, Villa operated with a certain poise. They did not rush or stray away from the intended approach.
“They waited for us (to press),” said Fenerbahce head coach Domenico Tedesco, cutting through the blast of car horns that could be heard outside the media suite. Tedesco said he watched eight Villa games, yet seemed powerless to nullify their best strengths.
Fenerbahce’s midfield issues were magnified. In some passages, they decided not to play with one at all. They tried to mark man-for-man, but Villa recognised that runs from deep would be highly effective.
Matty Cash made an intelligent break from deep from Youri Tielemans free kick. Identifying the trigger, Sancho moved inwards from the right and towards the left, stationed in the perfect position to head in from Cash’s cross.
Sancho was later found at the back post again, yet his inability to add a second reflected Villa’s failure to kill the game off in the first half, which was, frankly, what both teams deserved.
The atmosphere simmered. The ploy of intimidation transformed into Fenerbahce frustration directed towards their own players. At the break, Villa’s substitutes made a beeline for those starting in the same position as them, passing on instructions from their viewpoint on the bench.
Cash was having his minutes managed and knew he would come off in the second half, so ensured he relayed his thoughts on how to defend the right side to his replacement, Andres Garcia.
The same pattern continued for much of the second half, though increasingly the game became an end-to-end shootout. Marco Bizot held firm and Jhon Duran, of all players, cost Fenerbahce a point after moving into an offside position when Talisca scored.
Duran suffered defeat against his former side (Yasin Akgul/AFP via Getty Images)
Emery had seen enough of the emerging end-to-end nature. With more than a quarter of an hour to go, he changed to a compact 4-4-2, moving into a back five when the ball was out wide. Villa sat deeper and were content to play on transition, with Tyrone Mings and Victor Lindelof barking orders.
“We’ve been speaking a lot about our experiences in the Conference League losing to Olympiacos, losing to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League,” Emery said. “Every experience we have in this atmosphere is fantastic to learn.”
As he left his post-match press conference, every single Fenerbahce journalist asked for a picture. In some ways, this underlined the satisfaction taken from the 1-0 victory; a mature Villa side quietened the hostility and came away with respect.
The hope is that such experiences result in Villa being primed to go deep in the competition and, as Emery says, achieve “a dream” of winning the Europa League.
