Villarreal winger Samuel Chukwueze insists his team are not scared of coming up against Arsenal in the Europa League.
Unai Emery will face his former side on Thursday for the first time since being sacked in December 2019 - and replaced by current manager Mikel Arteta.
Chukwueze, who scored Villarreal's only goal in their 2-1 defeat to Barcelona on Sunday, remains confident of taking on board Emery's tactical instructions when the two sides meet at Estadio de la Ceramica.
LaLiga ambassador Chukwueze, speaking at an event for LiveScore, said:
“When the time comes, it will be up to the coach and the tactics he chooses – all I need to do is just enter the field using the skills I have practiced and give everything I have.
"We are going to play our football as normal. We are not scared or anything, we are just going to play our football as a team.”
On Unai Emery:
“I enjoy playing under Unai Emery. He’s amazing, and so tactical in everything he does.
"He can push you to the limit, but he is a fantastic coach.
"He has an amazing football brain. He has amazed me how I have seen him change things from game to game.
"Sometimes when I watch him from the bench, I have looked at him and noticed changes he makes which work for him that are great to see. He is so good at his job and is a fantastic coach.”
On his Nigerian idols:
“When I was young in Nigeria, I remember I loved watching Jay-Jay Okocha and Nwankwo Kanu. Every kid in Nigeria was watching them and these two were two of my idols growing up.”
On the greatest Nigerian players:
“I didn’t watch all of them play at the time. However, watching them on YouTube all of them did amazing, so I can’t even choose one person.
"Nwankwo Kanu won the Premier League with Arsenal, Yakubu scored some amazing goals and was one of the only Nigerians to score a hat-trick in the Premier League.
"Obafemi scored a lot of goals too, all of them did amazing so I can’t choose just one.”
LaLiga ambassador Samuel Chukwueze was speaking at an event for LiveScore, Official Global Scoring Partner of LaLiga Santander. LiveScore’s iOS and Android app is available to download now: https://www.livescore.com/en/mobile/
