Arsene Wenger has claimed Unai Emery was treated unfairly during his stint as Arsenal manager.
Emery replaced Wenger at the Emirates but was sacked after just 18 months in charge with the Gunners struggling to trouble the top-four.
Taking on the Villarreal job he beat Manchester United to win the Europa League title in the 2020-21 campaign and beat Juventus and Bayern Munich en route to the Champions League semi-finals this season.
It was a fairytale run that finally came to an end on Tuesday night but only after a spirited comeback from the Yellow Submarine.
Liverpool boasted a 2-0 lead heading into the game in Spain but the advantage was wiped out by half-time as Jurgen Klopp’s side struggled with their opponent’s energy.
“But eventually, the Reds‘ class told as Fabinho, Luis Diaz and Sadio Mane completed a second-half comeback to win the tie 5-2 on aggregate and progress to the Paris final. After full-time Emery remained upbeat, telling BT Sport:”When you have lost the moment is sad for everybody.
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We can’t be happy because of the way we were doing good matches, good battles against Juventus, Bayern Munich and then some excellence against Liverpool.
“They deserve to play in the final. First half tonight we showed everybody we are a good team as well and we can have chances too. But the difference in two matches was with them.”
Wenger was watching on from a different TV studio during the clash and will have been pleased to see the spirited display from his successor at the Emirates.
The Gunners legend was asked for his opinion on Emery and specifically whether he felt he was treated unfairly at Arsenal.
“Certainly yes because they didn’t give him a lot of time,” Wenger said during BeIN Sports coverage of the game.
“I think Unai Emery is a good coach and showed in Spain, he’s consistently there at the top level.”
On the same night Emery was once again earning plaudits in Europe, Josh Kroenke, one of the board members responsible for the manager’s sacking, was attending an Arsenal fans forum.
It was a move that received mixed opinions from supporters.