Ajax v Aston Villa: No danger of Villa taking their Euro mission lightly
Ezri Konsa has promised Villa have only Ajax in their sights ahead of a potentially season-defining few days.
Villa face the Dutch giants tonight in Amsterdam in the first leg of a last-16 Europa Conference League tie, before then hosting Tottenham, their closest rivals in the race for a top four Premier League finish on Sunday.
The latter fixture has taken on huge importance, with Unai Emery’s team having won their last three matches to open up a five-point cushion over the London club.
Yet Konsa, one of several standout players in what has been an excellent campaign, insists the focus is squarely on Ajax with the Conference League offering a chance to end the club’s wait for a major trophy, which will soon extend into a 29th year.
“The position we are in, we are there because we have taken it slowly and not looking too far ahead, or getting complacent,” explained the defender.
“We don’t want to look too far ahead. Ajax on Thursday is the game we are looking forward to and our focus for the moment. After that, we will focus on Sunday.
“This is an opportunity to win a trophy and from the beginning of the season, or even since the boss joined, that is what he wanted to do. He wants to win a trophy with us and that is something we are trying to do now.”
Konsa rejected the notion Villa should be considered favourites against Ajax despite the four-time European Cup winners enduring one of their worst seasons in recent memory.
They sit only fifth in the Dutch league, having at one point been in the relegation zone earlier in the campaign.
Their presence in the Conference League, meanwhile, is due to a failure to progress in the Europa League and they required a goal late in extra-time to edge past Bodo/Glimt in last month’s play-off round.
Ajax were also beaten by Alkmaar, the team Villa defeated twice in the Conference League group stages earlier this season.
But Konsa said: “This is a different game. League and cup games are completely different. We have to expect anything.
“They still have a lot of top players so we have to go there with the mentality of not being complacent and not worrying about their position in the league.
“Our focus is on ourselves. They have top players, Jordan Henderson being one. We know they are a threat no matter where they are in their league. European football is different.”
Konsa is one of several players experiencing the latter for the first time this season and while the group stages have provided a grounding, he acknowledges tonight’s match, played in front of 55,000 fans at the Johan Cruyff Arena, feels a step up.
“No disrespect to the teams we have already played but Ajax’s history in European football speaks for itself,” he said. “These are the kind of teams we want to play against, these are the kind of teams we want to test ourselves against.
“The first leg is away but we want to go there and get the win. This week we’ve been focusing on our gameplan and what we can do to beat them.
“Everyone is excited to go there and play against such an historic club. When you’re young you watch the Champions League and see Ajax competing in that and doing well. For us to be drawn against them is a good test and one I am really looking forward to.”
It was 15 years ago last month Martin O’Neill infamously sacrificed Villa’s European ambitions to target the top four, ending up with neither.
The chances of Emery doing likewise seem remote, not least because Villa progressing in the Conference League increases the chances of a fifth-place finish being enough to secure Champions League football.
Yet there are also reasons to have faith in the depth of a Villa squad which has continued to deliver results despite being continually disrupted by injuries, players buying into the head coach’s “no excuses” culture.
“That is the way we have been since the manager has come in,” said Konsa. “The mentality he has implemented has really paid off and we are showing it.
“We’ve had a lot of setbacks in our squad but it has not ruined our form or position in the league.
“No matter who is playing, everyone knows their roles so they are confident when they do get the chance. We all have the mentality of wanting to win every single game and we are showing it no matter how small our squad is.”
