Unai Emery Breaks Silence on Wild Altercation with Youri Tielemans during Europa League Game

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has discussed his "very strange" altercation with midfielder Youri Tielemans, after the pair clashed during Thursday's Europa League clash against Fenerbahce.

It was another successful European night for the Villains as they earned their sixth win of this season's Europa League campaign.

Jadon Sancho, who has only started two Premier League games for the club this season, scored his first Aston Villa goal to secure their spot in the last 16 with a game to spare.

Away from the 1-0 scoreline and one of the big talking points from Thursday's game was an unusual incident involving Unai Emery and Youri Tielemans.

Tielemans was replaced by teenager George Hemmings in the 92nd minute but as the Belgian was making his way towards the bench, a furious Emery voiced his displeasure at the midfielder before pushing him away.

"Wow, what was that all about?" said the TNT Sports commentator, just moments after the shove. "He wasn't happy to be coming off there. That was very strange."

This is very concerning from Unai Emery. In fact the last couple of weeks he’s been on edge which is weird considering Villa are having a strong season. I wonder if anything is happening behind the scenes pic.twitter.com/zqkwG3p2AD

— Pythagoras In Boots ⚽️ (@pythaginboots) January 22, 2026

Speaking in his post-match interview, Emery was asked what he said to Tielemans during the heated conversation. "He is my son," the Spaniard replied. "He is my son!"

The touchline incident was a big talking point in the TNT Sports studio, with former Manchester City and Aston Villa defender Joleon Lescott giving his take on the bizarre situation.

"I don't like that, regardless of what it's for," said Lescott. "If that was the other way round, a player refused to shake the manager's hand - there would be uproar. There would be questions about his mentality, the professionalism."

He added: "Listen, I'm sure it's innocent, or more innocent than it looks, but I didn't like the look of it."

Former England women's international Fara Williams also spoke about the moment.

"I was just assuming it could because he jogged off the pitch and there is a couple of minutes left," she said. "I think he wanted him to walk off. That's the only thing I can assume."

Aston Villa will take on Red Bull Salzburg in their final Europa League league phase game on January 29.