Emery is several steps above as a coach – Parejo

are set to face

in the first leg of the Europa League semi-final on Thursday night. Unai Emery will face his former players tonight for the first time since November 2019, when he parted ways with Arsenal to join the El Submarino Amarillo.

Villarreal midfielder

, who previously worked under Emery in his time at Valencia back in 2011-12, has praised the Spanish boss ahead of the semi-final clash, explaining why Emery is one of the best coaches he has ever had.

“I knew Unai from my first stage in Valencia. Neither he is the one I met in Valencia nor am I the one he was in Valencia when we met,"

Parejo told

.

"For me he is a great coach because of how he prepares, how he studies the rival, he is clear about the approaches of each game and has evolved in every way: when it comes to training, motivational talks, understanding the player in different circumstances, having psychology… I have always said that for me the best coaches I had had were Valverde and Marcelino.

"And I would like to add Emery. In Valencia I was young, I had many coaches and I have seen how they worked a lot and Unai is one of the best, of course. I think he is several steps above as a coach."

Follow

for the