Familiar foe faces Aston Villa as Olympiacos boss targets a big upset

Daniel Podence scored in front of the Holte End on his most recent visit to Villa Park while playing for Wolves last season and the winger, currently on loan from Molineux in Greece, is among the biggest threats Unai Emery’s team must diffuse in tonight’s Europa Conference League semi-final first leg.

For Villa’s head coach, meanwhile, the man in the opposing dugout needs no introduction. Jose Luis Mendilibar is a fellow Basque, against whom Emery has locked horns on 13 previous occasions when both managed in Spain.

“He started like me. We were always playing (against each other) in the championship in Spain,” said Emery. “I have always respected him because he is very competitive and a very passionate coach, like me. He deserves to have this opportunity in Europe.”

Mendilibar became Olympiacos’ third head coach of the season when he replaced Carlos Carvahal in February and is aiming to repeat his feat of 12 months ago, when he took charge of Sevilla at a similar point of the season and led them to glory in the Europa League, beating Manchester United, Juventus and finally Jose Mourinho’s Roma in the final.

The 63-year-old, who had never managed outside Spain before, has already done wonders in reviving a campaign which looked lost when Carvahal was sacked after just 62 days in charge. One of his first achievements was to inspire Olympiacos, who began the season in the Europa League, to the biggest comeback in their 99-year history when they overturned a 4-1 first leg deficit to beat Maccabi Tel Aviv 7-5 on aggregate in the Conference League last-16.

The Greek club then raced into a 3-0 first leg lead in their quarter- final against Fenerbache only to let it slip and eventually prevail, just like Villa, on penalties.

Such experiences and a career in management which stretches back more than a quarter of a century means the former midfielder is approaching the semi-final in surprisingly relaxed mood.

“I’m not nervous at all, I’m not anxious, I’m unruffled,” said Mendilibar.

“I don’t know if this is due to my age or my experience, but I have gone through a lot and I am not anxious – at least not until half an hour before each match.

“I know exactly what I’m going to do, and I honestly believe we can win.”

Podence signed a contract extension at Wolves last September before leaving for Olympiacos on a season-long loan, with the club eager to protect the value of a player who had, for several months, made clear his desire to leave.

The winger’s form in Greece will have done his price tag no harm. Podence scored his 14th goal of the season in last Sunday’s 4-1 win over Lamia yet Mendilibar believes the 28-year-old can get better.

“Even though he is already in good condition, we believe he has more to offer,” he said.

“There are moments when he halts and we want to avoid that. We are working on this because we know that he has more to give.”

Podence is one of five Portuguese players on Olympiacos’ books, a club owned by Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis which also has close links to Jorge Mendes.

Defender Omar Richards and midfielder Joao Carvalho are among the former Forest players in Mendilibar’s squad.

Asked about the threat posed by Villa, the head coach replied: “They are a team playing in the world’s best league and are in fourth position; that alone shows that they are a tough opponent. We have great respect for them, and we know that it will be a difficult game, but we have respect for all of our opponents and we have a chance to win.

“When you play against a team like Aston Villa, any mistake can cost you a lot, so we need to limit our mistakes.

“Aston Villa is a team that can take the score to 2–0 without much possession, as they did in the previous match, but they can also concede goals for the same reason.”