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Unai Emery Responds When Asked Why He Pushed Youri Tielemans
Unai Emery’s Aston Villa secured a top-eight finish in the league phase of the 2025/26 Europa League on Thursday night as Jadon Sancho’s header opened and closed the scoring in the 25th minute, though much has been made of the clash between Youri Tielemans and Emery when the Belgian was taken off late on.
Far from a routine day at the office, the Premier League side were put to their paces as they earned their sixth win of this season’s iteration of Europe’s second-most prestigious competition. In the league phase table, they are behind only Olympique Lyonnais on goal difference.
Sancho pulled Villa ahead within half an hour of action and the winger’s header remained unanswered by the home outfit. Villa’s Matty Cash delivered a cross, helped on by the head of Jayden Oosterwolde, into the path of the goalscorer, who shifted behind Milan Skriniar to nod it past Ederson into the bottom-right corner.
Emery Pushes Tielemans: Villa Boss Asked for Explanation and Gives Bizarre Response
In added time of the second half, Tielemans – who was signed on a free transfer from Leicester City in the summer of 2023 – was taken off in favour of teenager George Hemmings as Emery’s men looked to see out his narrow 1-0 victory on Turkish soil.
Emery, formerly of Arsenal and Villarreal, was spotted on camera getting up in the central midfielder’s personal space once the player had high-fived his replacement and trudged off the pitch. Already furious for an unknown reason, he had no interest in shaking the hand of his all-action midfielder.
Instead, the animated Spaniard waved his arms in the air and screamed in Tielemans’ face before shoving him towards the away dugout. The substituted player remained calm, fortunately, and he decided to continue walking towards his teammates on the bench. You can watch the incident below:
“Wow, what was that all about?” said the TNT Sports commentator, moments after Emery appeared to shove his midfielder. “He wasn’t happy to be coming off there. That was very strange.”
When conducting his post-match media duties, Emery was quizzed about the incident. “Lastly, a moment when Youri Tielemans was substituted off. What were you trying to tell him?” the Spanish boss was asked. “What was that conversation?”
“He’s my son,” was the response of Emery, the mastermind behind Villa’s rise to being a regular contender for top four credentials. When pushed for further details, he simply replied: “Yeah!”
Watch Emery’s bizarre response below:
A big post-match talking point, as expected, TNT Sports’ Joleon Lescott – former Villa Park defender and two-time Premier League winner with Manchester City – offered his take on the bizarre situation, and it’s fair to say he is not on the side of Emery. He said:
“I don’t like that, regardless of what it’s for. If that was the other way round, a player refused to shake the manager’s hand – there would be uproar. There would be questions about his mentality, the professionalism Listen, I’m sure it’s innocent, or more innocent than it looks, but I didn’t like the look of it.”
Former England women’s international Fara Williams tried to dig for an explanation behind why Emery shoved the 28-year-old. “I was just assuming it could because he jogged off the pitch and there is a couple of minutes left,” she said. “I think he wanted him to walk off. That’s the only thing I can assume.”
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Luckily for those of a Villa Park persuasion, Tielemans’ late substitution paid dividends as the away side were able to retain their one-goal lead until the referee blew the full-time whistle. A win at the Ulker Stadyumu Fenerbahce Sukru Saracoglu Spor Kompleksi last night has guaranteed their progression into the knockout rounds as one of the top eight sides.
Now second (only on goal difference) with 18 points from seven matches, Villa will lock horns with Red Bull Salzburg in their final league phase match on January 29, but a full-strength team is highly unlikely given they have already booked their passage into the next round.
Villa’s last piece of major silverware came in the form of the League Cup back in 1996 and Emery, widely regarded as one of the best managers in world football, has said he’s ‘dreaming’ of Europa League glory after booking themselves a spot in the Round of 16.
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A record winner of the competition, he told the media “we have clear objectives in this competition to be a contender for a trophy” after his side’s recent away victory. “[We want] to be a contender in case we need this trophy to play in the Champions League. Through our league [it] is very difficult,” he added. “I am dreaming to be here getting trophies and the Europa is one objective we have this year.”
