Aston Villa welcome Olympiacos to Villa Park on Thursday.
The game against the Greek side is the first of the two-legged semi-final of the Europa Conference League.
Having beat Lille on penalties in the quarter-finals, Unai Emery‘s side are favourites to win the tournament.
Emery’s pedigree in Europe – having won three consecutive Europa League trophies with Sevilla as well as triumphing with Villarreal – means it is no surprise to see his side make the latter stages of Europe’s third rate competition.
The Spanish manager delighted Villa fans by signing a new contract last week and now their fans can take comfort from their manager’s record against the man in the opposing dugout on Thursday.
Unai Emery boasts impressive record over Olympiacos manager
Olympiacos have a manager with experience in abundance in 61-year-old José Luis Mendilibar.
Prior to taking charge of the Greek club in February, the Spaniard had managed exclusively in his homeland.
With clubs like Sevilla, Alaves and Osasuna on his CV it is perhaps not surprising that Emery and Mendilibar have locked horns on a number of occasions.
In fact, when looking at the number of times Emery has faced different managers, Mendilibar ranks seventh; with the pair doing battle 13 times according to Transfermarkt.
Villa fans should take confidence from this, as it is their manager who has had the beating of the man leading Olympiacos.
Of those 13 matches against Mendilibar’s sides, Emery has won seven, drawn two and lost four.
Emery will be wary of Olympiacos threat
Despite this, Emery will be wary of the threat his side’s semi-final opponents possess.
Emery is meticulous in his planning for games and would have studied Olympiacos with the same attention to detail he always does.
Thursday’s opponents have quality in the side, with the likes of ex-Wolves winger Daniel Podence, captain Kostas Fortounis and striker Ayoub El Kaabi.
Given their shared ownership, there is also a Nottingham Forest contingent at the Greek club, with Omar Richards and Giulian Biancone, although the latter is ineligible and the former has barely featured.
Whilst Villa will be firm favourites they will know their opponents will be no pushovers having beaten Fenerbahce to set up this clash.
The Villans will also anticipate a hostile atmosphere when they travel for the away leg so will want to be in a good position going into that game a week later.
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