'You're not Man City, Liverpool' - Emery explains how Villa handle stress of multiple competitions

Unai Emery has challenged Aston Villa to follow in the footsteps of Manchester City and Liverpool by performing consistently across multiple competitions this season.

The Villans face Serie A side Bologna in the UEFA Champions League live on TNT Sports and discovery+ on Tuesday, having lost just one of their eight fixtures in the Premier League. Emery's side defeated Fulham 3-1 in the league on Saturday, a result that left them fourth in the table, four points behind leaders Liverpool. Champions League

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The Spaniard believes getting his side to fight on several fronts will be his biggest task this season.

"This is the most difficult challenge I can have now, to try to get us performing in the Premier League and the Champions League," Emery told TNT Sports in an exclusive interview.

"We played a huge and great match on Saturday, our mentality was brilliant, but tomorrow is the same.

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"Sometimes other coaches ask me how we can manage to play, be consistent and compete in the Premier League and in the Champions League with the experience we have with the club and the team and some players.

"We are not Manchester City, we are not Liverpool, we are not even Arsenal or one of the other great teams that are used to playing lots of matches in Europe and the Premier League.

"This is my challenge, this is my concern every day, to try to compete in each match.

"Try to be competitive and try to get our performances.

"We try to be demanding and try to get the players focussing 100% on one match and try to play while always respecting the opponent."

Aston Villa are currently sixth in the Champions League league phase table after claiming a 3-0 win in their opener at Young Boys before securing a memorable 1-0 victory over Bayern Munich.

Emery believes the challenge of competing week in and week out in the Premier League has helped his side adapt to the standard of the Champions League.

"This was maybe because the opponent [Bayern Munich] are already one of the best teams in the world," he said.

"Here in England, in the Premier League, we are already playing the best teams in the world.

"Of course, to get the balance of being consistent, achieving our demands against those teams, you can feel comfortable and you can face those teams, competing, sometimes losing, but of course sometimes you can have opportunities to win, to beat these teams.

"Bayern was a fantastic match.

"The consequence was that we have three more points in the table, it is important, but tomorrow we are playing the same three points.

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"Of course, the opponents are always demanding, so to achieve points against Bayern means a lot to the supporters."

Emery heaped praise on Bologna manager Vincenzo Italiano ahead of the clash.

"Firstly the coach, he is being successful," he added.

"His spirit and his energy is huge and he is showing his capacity as a coach to be successful before in his process and now with Bologna he has a new challenge.

"He is trying to impose his idea strongly, they are aggressive, they have good players, and with teams in the Champions League, you have to always respect them."

Highlights: Exceptional Duran strike gives Villa famous win against Bayern

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