Unai Emery on sidelines
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Unai Emery has ended one player's Aston Villa career after Fenerbahce thrashing

Harri Burton

Senior Correspondent AUTHORITY Senior football journalist specialising in refereeing and officiating; former contributor to The Football League Paper, Late Tackle, and the Premier League; University of Derby graduate. FOCUS Refereeing controversies, football finance and governance, PGMOL decisions, and officiating analysis across the Premier League, EFL, and SPFL. THE INSIGHT Harri utilises a network of officiating and industry contacts to deliver verified, expert analysis of refereeing decisions and PGMOL policy. He provides the regulatory clarity behind the controversy to ensure fans get the full picture.

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Unai Emery saw a near-perfect performance from his players as Aston Villa put six unanswered goals past Fenerbahce in the Champions League.

Nicolas Jackson and Ross Barkey bagged braces, Tammy Abraham netted in the 90th minute, and Johan Manzambi kicked it all off after 12 minutes.

Those at Villa Park were treated to an incredible game of football, one which saw the Villans finish the week third in the Champions League table.

The defence was also put to work, but with Zion Suzuki between the sticks, Fenerbahce had no chance of ruining the Japanese international's clean sheet.

It was also the perfect chance to get some minutes into fresh legs, with both Alysson and Leon Goretzka coming off the bench in the final stages.

The Brazilian winger even grabbed an assist during his 20 minutes on the pitch, but it wasn't an ideal night for everyone involved, that's for sure.

Alejandro Garnacho forced to watch from the bench

Alejandro Garnacho has been a major talking point since his arrival from Chelsea on loan in the summer, with no Premier League starts to his name yet.

The clash with Fenerbahce would have been the ideal moment for the Argentine to impress at Villa Park, only to be given a handful of minutes.

Alysson, 20, was preferred over Garnacho for the final stages, and it was clearly the right decision, but it says a lot about Emery's hope in the latter.

In just over 10 minutes, Garnacho had just five touches, created no chances, completed no dribbles, and won just 50 per cent of his ground duels [FotMob].

The 22-year-old will be playing for a permanent spot in the squad, but clearly not trusted by the manager, any hope of that is quickly disappearing.

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What does Unai Emery have planned for Garnacho?

It's been suggested that the clause in Garnacho's loan contract is even easier to trigger than the one in Harvey Elliott's last season.

If that's the case, he could be in for a very long campaign, given how fans saw Elliott treated during the 2026-27 season.

Mick Brown told Football Insider that Emery has key plans for the player after the friendly with Sevilla during the international break.

However, the former scouter did admit that his likeliest destination is La Liga in Spain if the loan spell turns into nothing more by next summer.

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