Unai Emery's Pursuit of the Elusive Super Cup
Unai Emery has built an empire in Europe’s second-tier competition. Five Europa League titles, the latest carved out with Aston Villa in Istanbul in May, ended a 30-year wait for silverware in Birmingham and underlined his status as the tournament’s undisputed specialist.
Yet one piece keeps falling off the chessboard.
The Super Cup has repeatedly stared Emery down and walked away untouched. On Wednesday night in Salzburg, against his former club Paris St-Germain, he gets a fourth crack at the prize that refuses to join his collection.
The one that keeps getting away
Emery’s relationship with the Super Cup is a story of near-misses and cruel timing.
Real Madrid first blocked his path in 2014, Cristiano Ronaldo scoring twice to tilt the night their way against Sevilla. A year later, Barcelona did it in dramatic fashion, a 5-4 extra-time epic shaped by Lionel Messi’s brilliance. By 2016, when Sevilla lost again to Real, Emery had already left for PSG and could only watch from afar.
He finally returned to the fixture with Villarreal in 2021, pushed Chelsea all the way in Dublin, and still watched the trophy slip away on penalties.
Three attempts. Three defeats. No medals.
For a coach wired like Emery, that matters. Last season he openly chased third place in the Premier League, not because fourth would be derided as failure, but because the detail gnawed at him: he had not yet taken Villa that high. They finished fourth. Progress, yes. Satisfaction, no.
The Super Cup lives in that same space. Some dismiss it as a high-end friendly with a ribbon attached, a European equivalent of the Community Shield. Emery does not. Nor, publicly at least, do PSG.
Salzburg stage, familiar opponent
Red Bull Arena offers a pointed twist. Emery stands opposite the club he once managed, backed by 6,000 travelling Villa supporters who have followed this resurgence with something close to disbelief.
He knows exactly what this represents.
“It’s an opportunity. A trophy is something that can give us a special moment. To play for trophies is, as a professional, our objective,” he said, pointing to captain John McGinn, who had reminded him of that Chelsea defeat. Emery did not need the nudge.
PSG arrive as Champions League holders for the second year running, carrying the weight and expectation that comes with that status. Vitinha, already a four-time Ligue 1 winner, brushed aside any suggestion the French champions would treat the game as a gentle run-out, though he admitted their “pre-season was a little short”.
“We’re still hungry for victories, trophies. It’s very difficult to maintain those levels but we’re still hungry,” the Portugal midfielder said.
Defender Marquinhos struck the same note. PSG, he insisted, cannot afford to slip into comfort, even as they grumbled about the size of their dressing room in Salzburg and UEFA moved to hand them an extra one.
“Just because we’ve won things these past seasons, that doesn’t mean it’s easy. We know there’ll be plenty of obstacles. Personally, I want more, and each player in the squad is like that. We’ve all worked to get here, to arrive in the best condition.”
The message from Paris is clear: this is not a night off.
Echoes of a quarter-final that changed Villa
These sides do not meet in a vacuum. The last time Villa and PSG clashed, in the Champions League quarter-final of 2024-25, Emery’s team walked away beaten but transformed.
Villa trailed 3-1 from the first leg at Parc des Princes and looked buried when PSG surged 2-0 ahead in Birmingham, 5-1 up on aggregate. What followed almost blew the tie apart.
Villa roared back, scored three, won 3-2 on the night and went out 5-4 overall. It was breathless, chaotic, and it left a mark. The comeback fell short, but the performance confirmed Villa as a side that could stand up to Europe’s elite and swing.
Vitinha has not forgotten.
“It was such a difficult test, especially the second half,” he admitted. “We’ll be ready but we’re conscious of how difficult it’s going to be.”
For PSG, it was a warning. For Emery, it was a signpost: Aston Villa were no longer just grateful guests at the top table.
A very different Villa
Yet only 484 days later, the Villa that walks out in Austria will look nothing like the one that rattled PSG in that quarter-final.
Morgan Rogers, Lucas Digne and Youri Tielemans have been sold. Amadou Onana is out until next year. Boubacar Kamara has made the squad but is only just emerging from a serious knee injury suffered in January.
The spine that carried Villa through that European run has been disrupted again by the summer. Emi Martinez, Ezri Konsa and Ollie Watkins have not travelled, granted a month off after their World Cup exertions. It opens the door to a startling reality: only four of the starters from that famous night against PSG may begin this one. Five of the substitutes from that game have also moved on.
For a club that has prided itself on stability under Emery, the turnover is stark.
McGinn, who has lived the full span of Villa’s modern story, understands the scale of the shift.
“A lot has changed in the eight years I’ve been here,” the captain said. “When you are signing the best young English talent and players are performing at the highest level there will be interest.
“We have a structure in place, standards and rules which have made us a success. I’m really excited about the new Aston Villa.
“We have our main core, the same manager, same methods and same desire to achieve more. A lot of people thought we reached a ceiling a couple of seasons ago and we proved them wrong.”
The message is defiant: evolution, not erosion.
Emery versus history
On the opposite bench, Carlo Ancelotti’s shadow lingers over the conversation. The Italian sits on five Super Cup titles – two with AC Milan, three with Real Madrid – with Pep Guardiola one behind after triumphs with Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City. Ancelotti’s third came at Emery’s expense in 2014.
Emery has matched those giants in Europa League lore. He has not yet joined them in this particular club.
So the question hangs over Salzburg. Is this just another shiny curtain-raiser, or the night Emery finally drags the Super Cup into his orbit?
For PSG, it is about maintaining an era of dominance. For Villa, it is another test of whether their renaissance can carry them from plucky challengers to serial winners.
For Emery, though, it is simpler. A coach obsessed with details, with marginal gains and incremental steps, stands once again within reach of the one European trophy that keeps slipping away.
How many more chances will he get to change that?
