Since Emery left Villarreal their situation has changed slightly but it is not impossible for them to focus more on the Europa League now rather than looking at La Liga.
Not that La Liga is not very important in this case but if you look at their current condition it must be difficult to compete in the race for the Europa League or Champions League because they are currently still scattered in the middle standings so surely their priority will be in the Europa League and it was seen when Villarreal performed quite well in the Europa League group phase.
The current situation is actually almost the same as Sevilla did last season but of course that doesn't mean they can walk free in this competition because after all, looking at the opportunities that exist for them at this time Villarreal is just a dark horse for the Europa League.
In this particular competition, I have never doubted him since I watched how he dealt with Manchester United and also with Liverpool.
Liverpool he won while he was manager of Sevilla and Manchester United he won on penalties while he was manager for Villarreal football club.
They're not in a good position and place right now. 13 position? I can remember him using Villarreal to knock out Bayern Munich from the Champions League also, he's that good just like he's done with Aston Villa.
Since he's not in this Competition, I'll be rooting for either of Xabi Alonso, Gennaro Gattuso and lastly Jose Mourinho to win the trophy. Liverpool are also big European giants alongside AC Milan. Anything can happen.
Previously Villarreal under Emery was quite surprising especially when beating Bayernd in the Quarter Final that I think is amazing for a dark horse club even though in the end they also had to fall in the semifinals but that was their best achievement under Emery because apart from being able to make a good performance in the Champions League they were also quite stable in La Liga but now they have dropped out of domestic competition and it is a little difficult to return to a decent position because they are focusing on being at the top of the Europa League but La Liga they are struggling to get a decent position.
For Leverkusen, they are currently on a good track and I think they can currently be a strong candidate for the championship apart from Liverpool but of course they still have to prove this with their appearance on the field because until now if you look at the strength of the club Liverpool is the club that has the highest probability of getting the title until now.
Since Emery left Villarreal their situation has changed slightly but it is not impossible for them to focus more on the Europa League now rather than looking at La Liga.
Not that La Liga is not very important in this case but if you look at their current condition it must be difficult to compete in the race for the Europa League or Champions League because they are currently still scattered in the middle standings so surely their priority will be in the Europa League and it was seen when Villarreal performed quite well in the Europa League group phase.
The current situation is actually almost the same as Sevilla did last season but of course that doesn't mean they can walk free in this competition because after all, looking at the opportunities that exist for them at this time Villarreal is just a dark horse for the Europa League.
I agree that they should have kept Emery if they can, but at the same time he got an offer from Villa and right now he is second place in premier league. Nobody in the world would have expected Aston Villa to be second place in the premier league after 20+ games played, which means that the dude is doing amazing and should probably considered one of the best managers of our era, or at least current era, and that is why I am expecting him and Xabi to be head of some huge giant clubs in the future.
Villareal couldn't hold a manager like that, it just wasn't possible, he did all he could for the team and team should have taken advantage of that situation, financially, and have a long term plan. Turns out, they had none, the moment he left, they started to be bad again.
I don't know the specific reason for this but what is busy in the media is because Emery's tenure at Villarreal was running out at that time and there were 2 offers from Newcastle and Aston Villa so indeed he went straight to Aston Villa even though at that time Aston Villa was threatened from a position in the domestic standings.
Maybe he also got what he wanted there because after all, while at Villarreal Emery had won several trophies including the Europa League Champion after beating Manchester United on penalties which was very mentally draining.