Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has said that Barcelona is among the elite group of clubs capable of winning the UCL this season. He recently had his say while speaking to the press, and fans have been reacting.

Admitting that the Catalan giants are currently playing at a level very few clubs can match, Emery stated that his players must show immense resilience to withstand the relentless pressure from Barcelona.

The Spaniard added that Yamal is a special footballer who can become the best player in the world someday.

His words, “They’re the favourites to win this competition, given their current form and what they’ve accomplished over the past decade.

We can count them on one hand – five teams – and one of them is Barca. If Barca play at their best, they can beat anyone.

They’re going to push us very hard, and we’ll have to play with a lot of character.”

On Yamal anf Rodri, “He’s a special player, and you can see in him that he could end up being the best in the world.

He needs to improve in some areas, but he could end up being a great player.

Rodri brings character to the team, just like Raphinha. [Anthony] Gordon is very fast, and Pedri and Fermin [Lopez] also contribute a lot on the offensive end.”