Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.
Unai Emery believes “there are still things to improve” after his Aston Villa side thrashed Fenerbahce 6-0 in the Champions League.
Villa have recorded their biggest ever win in major European competition, and their biggest victory under Emery across all competitions.
Johan Manzambi opened the scoring before Nicolas Jackson and Ross Barkley both netted braces and Tammy Abraham sealed the win in the 90th minute.
Villa have won 18 of their last 20 home games in major European competition (D1 L1), and are on the joint-longest active winning streak at home in such competitions (11 – level with Freiburg).
Emery’s side are one of two teams to score three first-half goals in both of their opening two games of a Champions League campaign, alongside Paris Saint-Germain this season, but the Spaniard still sees room for improvement.
“Overall it was a very good match. There are still things to improve,” Emery told TNT Sports.
“It was a strong result for us. Maybe Fenerbahce didn’t deserve [to concede] those six goals.
“[We must] keep going forward. [It helps] confidence for us. We did some changes to get other players confidence and minutes.
“What we did today was fantastic. The Champions League is very difficult.”
6-0 – Aston Villa have recorded their biggest ever win in major European competition, and their biggest victory under manager Unai Emery across all competitions. Salute.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 14, 2026
Manzambi, who turned 21 on Wednesday, became the second player to score on his Champions League debut on his birthday, alongside Spartak Moscow’s Romulo v Barcelona in September 2012 (22 years old).
Emery was Spartak Moscow’s coach for that game.
Jackson praised the performance of the Switzerland international, as well as his compatriot Ibrahim Mbaye, who assisted Barkley’s second goal.
“He [Manzambi] is a top player. I’m really happy we’re playing together. I hope we score many more goals together,” Jackson told TNT Sports.
“He [Mbaye] is an amazing player. We’re in the [Senegal] national team together. Hopefully he’ll get more time to play. He’s very fast. It’s good to have him.”
Jackson is the first player to score in as many as four of his first five Champions League starts since Sebastien Haller in December 2021 (all five).
He could have taken home the match ball, but Barkley took the penalty instead of the former Chelsea striker.
“Yeah, I wanted to take it but the most important thing is we win. Hopefully next time I’ll get the hat-trick,” Jackson added.
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