Villarreal coach Unai Emery wants his side to be remembered for their accomplishments in this season’s Champions League starting with a win in their last-16 match at Juventus on Wednesday.
The teams are level at 1-1 after the first leg in Spain.
“We don’t want Villarreal to be something ephemeral in the Champions League, we want to be here to stay,” Emery told a news conference on Tuesday.
“Winning against a club like Juventus means the opportunity to keep competing at the European level. We want to build around defined structures so we can stay here long-term… It’s wonderful to be in the Champions League and we don’t want to leave.”
The former Arsenal and Paris St-Germain boss has good memories from Turin, where he guided Sevilla to their third Europa League title with a 4-2 shootout win over Benfica in 2014.
However, they also lost 2-0 there against Juventus in the 2015-16 Champions League group stage.
“We are aware of what Juventus are, their magnitude, and what they represent. They are one of the most successful teams in Europe,” Emery said.
“They are the clear favorites, but we must respond with our collective game. The rival is going to set the bar high for us. We have high expectations in our own self-confidence. We will be ready to play a competitive game and to go all the way to extra time.”
Emery expects a very different context from the first leg in Spain, adding: “They (Juve) are used to living with the obligation to win, that’s why they are the biggest team in Italy.
“Juventus have a strong defense but also two exceptional forwards in Alvaro Morata and Dusan Vlahovic. So it will be important for us to control the possession, have the ball at our feet and make them take more aggressive responses.
“In the first leg they got in front and it gave them confidence but later they realized that it was not going to be that easy.”
