Unai Emery will return to the Camp Nou next Tuesday, his 55th birthday, to take on FC Barcelona and AstonVilla in the group stage of the Champions League. The visit will mark his first meeting as coach of the English club and the first time he faces the culé in continental competition, which adds a special tone to the event.
The Basque coach has a very complicated career at the Barça stadium. To date, he has directed 15 games at the Camp Nou with six different teams – Almería, Valencia, Spartak Moscow, Sevilla, PSG and Villarreal – and has only achieved one victory, 0-2 against Barça on the last day of the 2021-22 League, when the rival was already out of the fight for the title. The rest of the matches ended in defeat, with a total of 46 goals against and only 12 in favor.
Emery has suffered several difficult nights at the Camp Nou. His first visit was with Almería in 2007-08, where they lost 2-0 thanks to goals from Henry and Messi. With Valencia in 2008-09 and 2009-10 they also lost, 4-0 and 3-0 respectively, and in 2010-11 they lost 2-1. In the group stage of the 2012-13 Champions League, Spartak Moscow beat them 3-2, and in 2013-14 Sevilla lost 3-2. The most resounding defeat came in 2016-17, when PSG lost 6-1 at the Camp Nou after a 4-0 win in the first leg. In 2020-21 and 2022-23 Villarreal fell 4-0 and 3-0, although in 2021-22 they achieved the only victory in their history at the stadium.
2021‑22 was the only time Emery achieved a victory at the Camp Nou, with a 0‑2 thanks to goals from Pedraza and Moi Gómez. However, the Barça team beat them again 3‑0 in the same stadium before AstonVilla faced their new challenge.
Barça, who do not want Emery's birthday to be a celebration for the visitor, are preparing for a complicated game. Villa will have to overcome a streak of defeats at the Camp Nou and show that their arrival in the Premier League is not just a change of scenery, but an opportunity to change their history with the culé. The final result will decide whether Emery's 55th birthday will be a gift or a new lesson in his career.