Unai Emery, the man of the moment, the manager whose name is on everybody’s lips, the man that others would make their king, walked into the cavernous press conference room at the Nou Camp just after 8.15pm local time on Monday evening.

This is only a league game, early in the competition but there was electricity in the room that comes with the anticipation of the collision ahead. ‘This is elite football and Barcelona is always the favourite in a competition like this,’ Emery reminded his audience, ‘but we also have a history.

‘In 1982, we won the Champions League, the so-called European Cup. Barcelona are the favourites because of the present and what they have done over the last ten years. We are constantly seeking new challenges. We want to come here tomorrow night and see how far away we are from Barcelona.’

This is Emery against a big club. Against one of the modern elite. This is Emery and his wits against Lamine Yamal and Rodri and Raphinha. This is what Jamie Carragher, one of Emery’s most vocal – and controversial - champions of recent days, would call a ‘giant’ club. The phrase ‘Mes Que Un Club’ is even written into the seats at this magnificent stadium. It is the kind of club many believe Emery is born for.

Everybody is lavishing praise upon him. A few hours earlier, at the Barcelona training complex in Sant Joan Despi, several miles west of the city, Hansi Flick, the Barca coach, waxed lyrical about Emery’s talents and said he was the reason they were expecting such a tough match in their Champions League tie here on Tuesday evening.

‘Unai Emery is one of the best coaches in Europe and the world,’ Flick said. ‘He is very successful. In the way his team plays, you can see a clear structure in defence. And in offence, they have different patterns. For me, it is amazing to see his team.

‘Their start this season was not easy, but they came back. You can see the confidence they have on the ball, how they play out, and Nicolas Jackson is at an unbelievable level. For us, it will be a tough game against a good team and, as well, a great coach.’

Anthony Gordon, who joined Barcelona from Newcastle United in the summer, had already given a press conference of impressive maturity and thoughtfulness that had taken in his love of books and his distrust of TikTok but he, too, was unstinting in his admiration for Emery.

'Villa are a very good team,’ Gordon said. ‘They have one of the best coaches in the world right now. They are on a great run of late as well, so it will be a difficult game. They are one of the teams who are always in a game and are always ready for any type of game. It will be a very tough challenge.’

Even the environs of the stadium seemed to pay homage to Emery’s talents. Cranes still lean over the stands here as the extensive renovations to the steepling stands continue. Emery, we all know, is the master of the rebuild.

So by the time Emery walked out into that auditorium, it felt almost as if this were a final audition. This is the kind of stuff that, understandably, enrages Villa and their fans because of its patronising tone but the more impressive his results with his club, the more people suggest he should go elsewhere.

That is what got Carragher in trouble. Carragher said Manchester United should be making him their number one target because he is the best manager in the league. ‘Surely, he would want the opportunity to manage a giant again,’ Carragher said, aiming a couple of expletives at Villa supporters for good measure.

Villa chairman Nassef Sawiris threatened to take legal action against Carragher, Carragher apologised and all was forgotten. But while Emery thrives and a manager at one of the elite European clubs struggles, he will continue to be linked to those positions. It is the way it has always been.

And anyway, Emery would be mad to go to United if Michael Carrick leaves Old Trafford in the next few weeks. Not just because United is a basket-case of a club run by people who would not allow the manager to have anything like the level of control he enjoys at Villa, where he has smart owners who trust him and support him to the hilt.

Emery knows what it can be like at so-called bigger clubs like PSG and Arsenal, when impatience runs wild and expectations are absurd and support starts to wane. His best route to the very top is at a club like Villa. Because Villa are close to being giants and, with him as boss, they can bridge the gap to the elite.

Emery lost most of his first team in the summer - Morgan Rogers, Ezri Konsa, Lucas Digne, Emiliano Martinez, Youri Tielemans, Ollie Watkins, Donyell Malen and Leon Bailey all left – but he has fashioned a new exciting side in their stead already.

Villa are unbeaten in their last five games in the Premier League, including a victory that handed Manchester City their first defeat of the season, and sit second only to PSG at the top of the nascent Champions League table, with three straight wins. Emery is burnishing his reputation as a football magician. He is the game’s hottest managerial property again.

If Villa get a result at the Nou Camp, speculation about the future of Emery, who will turn 55 on the day of the game, will run wild again. It is bound to. It is a compliment to both manager and club, although it is unlikely Villa will see it that way. The joy of the results he is producing is tempered only by the fear of losing him.

But for all his success in Europe – he has won the Europa League five times, most recently with Villa in Istanbul last summer – he has a miserable record at the Nou Camp. He has brought six different clubs here and lost 14 of the 15 matches he has managed. His sole victory was with Villarreal in May 2022.

He has one particular ghost to slay in this competition. Because the Nou Camp was the scene of La Remontada, or ‘the comeback’, when Emery’s PSG brought a 4-0 lead to Barcelona for the second leg of a Round of 16 tie. PSG had won the first leg at the Parc des Princes 4-0 in March 2017 but Barcelona swept them aside 6-1 back in Catalonia.

The mention of that game was the one time during the press conference when Emery bristled. When asked what his memory of it was, he said sharply: ‘One more.’ Just one game among hundreds, he seemed to be saying. ‘I played in Europe 16 years in a row and I have learned in all of them. I learned so, so much. That night, I learned on sports side and not the sports side.’

Alongside him, John McGinn spoke compellingly, too. He spoke about coming here just once before, on a stadium tour when he was eight years old and he and his family were on their way to a holiday in the Canary Islands.

‘I am 32 years old and the trajectory of this club is allowing me to dream the dream of playing in front of the biggest crowds in the biggest arenas,’ McGinn said. ‘We want to make this a yearly experience to compete with the biggest teams in England and Europe.’

Emery also mentioned Gordon as one of the components he admires in the Barcelona side. Listening to him earlier, it was clear that he has already grown, both on and off the pitch since his move to Spanish football.

‘The challenge of joining Barca is different to what I've had before,’ Gordon said, ‘because when I was at Everton, I was fighting relegation for two or three years, which was tough. At Newcastle we were fighting for the Champions League and to push up the tables, and now I am at a club where we are fighting for every trophy.

‘I really enjoyed all three because they come with different things to help you as a person, help you grow. I think to be competing on every front for every trophy is definitely the most enjoyable. I think people think it's more pressure, but it's actually less pressure than fighting relegation and fighting to push up the table for the Champions League. I want to win every trophy. I want to be the best. This club allows me to do so.’

Before he left, Gordon spoke about how he rations his time on social media and reads more books and goes on more walks. ‘When you're in that wheel of dopamine addiction and you're scrolling on social media, you have to come away from it and get back to what’s real,’ he said.

On Tuesday night in the Nou Camp, Emery and Villa will take the next step on their advance on Europe and the rest of us will find out what is real and what is not.