Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has suggested the competitive nature of the Premier League has had an impact on English club’s ability to challenge in Europe.
Out of eight English teams who have featured in Europe this season – four in the Champions League, three in the Europa League and one in the Europa Conference League – only Villa remain.
They take on Olympiacos at Villa park this evening with the return leg next weekend looking to reach a European final for the first time since the lesser respected 2001 UEFA Intertoto Cup.
Emery said: “We are the only English team left and it’s difficult as our league is the toughest in the world.
“We must be focused 100 per cent in preparation for every game if we want to be successful in our league and to combine it with Europe is a difficult challenge.
“But I don’t understand how you can decide not to approach European football properly. The most successful teams in the world are my points of reference so we are very motivated with both the league and Europe.
“To be at the stage we are now is maybe the best we could have hoped for at the start of the season. But then as we have done better through the year, what we have achieved is not as a surprise.
“To keep it going for a long time is difficult. We are now contenders to finish fourth in the Premier League and to reach the final of the Europa Conference League. Our idea is to keep progressing.
“Our first objective all season has been to finish as high as we can in the Premier League but we have never refused to treat the Conference League properly.”
Villa won the European Cup in 1982, beating Bayern Munich in the final, and then won the Super Cup against Barcelona a year later.