A late goal condemned Aston Villa to a 3-1 defeat against Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Princes in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday night. Despite the loss, manager Unai Emery expressed satisfaction with his team’s performance on a historic night for the club.
“We are here and enjoying ourselves. I am very proud of the players and of everything we are doing at Aston Villa. We are developing and increasing demands playing against PSG. We competed fantastically and were close to getting a good result. This goal at the end, we still need to win next week,” he explained post-match.
“It is not changing a lot because, at 2-1, we were thinking about the next match playing to win. At 3-1, it is the same. We need to win the next match.”
Emery highlighted the support his side has received over the past few days, emphasising how crucial it will be as they prepare for the second leg next week.
“We are very proud of everyone supporting Aston Villa.“
“Prince William, the supporters – all supporters living in 1982 and the younger supporters, we are going to try and have one special day at Villa Park.”
An extra-time goal secured PSG’s 3-1 win, but Emery believes his players’ mindset will remain unchanged as they prepare for the second leg next week.
“The expectation before was going on during the match. The last goal is a little bit disappointing because it was in the last minute, but it doesn’t change our mind, our belief or our idea. We have to win the next match.”
“They have very intense players in the middle and quality on the wings. More or less, the result is in the way which could have happened.”
Villa Park will host the second leg next Tuesday, with kick-off at 20:00 BST [21:00 CEST].
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