Aston Villa supporters have had a few days to forget, which has been rare during Unai Emery’s extraordinary tenure in the dugout.

Self-inflicted or otherwise, Aston Villa‘s fanbase have had uncomfortable conversations about Emery’s future amid potential interest from Manchester United and the petty legal threat to Jamie Carragher.

The Villans are trying to overcome financial obstacles to legitimise themselves among football’s elite clubs, and they rightly view keeping Emery as vital to that happening, though co-owner Nassef Sawiris’ threat to Carragher undermined their mission and made them look the very opposite of best-in-class.

Carragher hurt Sawiris’ ego with a fact-based opinion about Aston Villa’s standing in world football, but they have certainly maximised how much they could have grown since Emery’s arrival, even though they will “never be Manchester United”.

Having joined when Aston Villa sat in the Premier League relegation zone, Emery has now reached four years as manager and has played the biggest role in the club’s transformation into a Europa League winner and Champions League regular.

After another summer of wholesale changes at Aston Villa, most onlookers foolishly wrote Emery and his team off as a past-its-peak force in the summer and at the start of this season after a slow start.

But the elite coach relishes these circumstances, and he is already eking out the maximum from a completely refreshed team in a season that could involve another good run in Europe and a Premier League top-six finish; this would surpass all realistic expectations given the hand he has been dealt.

And Emery’s superb work at Aston Villa means he could reunite acquaintances with former foes FC Barcelona in the Champions League group phase on Tuesday night.

Despite his previous great work with Sevilla and Villarreal, Emery has a poor record against Barcelona, with only three wins in 30 meetings before Tuesday night’s visit to the Nou Camp.

And Barcelona once again got the better of an Emery team in their latest meeting, though it was a game that Aston Villa can look back on with their heads held high.

The final 3-0 scoreline was not perhaps an honest reflection of the match, which was a real contest until Barcelona’s quality showed as they clinically picked off their opponents with a second and third goal in the second half.

Hansi Flick’s Barcelona are an extraordinary watch with their incredibly high defensive line, and Aston Villa exploited the space enough to score a couple of goals if their passing had been crisper and decision-making better.

But in-form Nicolas Jackson had an off-night by wasting several openings, and Aston Villa were at times guilty of overplaying and inviting pressure when Barcelona’s attackers were on their tails with a fierce press, which led to a couple of goals.

Still, Emery’s side should not be too downhearted with the outcome of their big night at Barcelona, and they surely won’t be because tonight’s opponents at least should be semi-finalists in this year’s competition, and Aston Villa remain well on course to overachieve this season.

With any other manager, this surely would not be possible given the sheer number of hurdles in Aston Villa’s way, and everyone associated with the club needs to count their lucky stars as long as Emery stays.

For now, Emery is said to be “happy” at Aston Villa, but as much as Sawiris and Co. will hate to hear this, Emery’s remarkable work is getting a lot of attention and that will eventually lead to accepting a job offer that is too good to turn down.

The head coach could have an itch to scratch at the top level after previously failing at Arsenal and PSG, and he has the ego to make him have another stab at one of the biggest jobs while he remains in his prime, whether that is Man Utd or another elite club in the coming months.