Emery remains bullish, despite defeat in Paris

PARIS — Aston Villa coach Unai Emery insisted he still believes his side can get the better of Paris Saint-Germain and reach the Champions League semifinals, despite a 3-1 defeat in the first leg of their last-eight tie on Wednesday.

"At 2-1, we were thinking about playing to win in the next match, and, at 3-1, it is still the same," Emery said.

"But, we are here and enjoying it, and I am very proud of the players. We competed fantastically, and we were close to getting a good result.

"At the end, with this goal, it is still more or less the same.

"Villa Park is our home, and, hopefully, we will be stronger there. But, of course, they are still favorites. They showed their power and individual quality."

Villa came to the French capital on a streak of seven straight wins in all competitions, which has boosted its chances of qualifying for the Champions League again next season and taken it to the semifinals of the FA Cup.

However, it will likely now require a special performance in Birmingham next Tuesday for it to carry on its current run in the Champions League.

"I am not happy, but I am satisfied with the performance of the team," Emery added.

"It is special for us to be in Paris and playing a Champions League quarterfinal.

"The second leg will be just as difficult at 3-1 as it would have been at 2-1. We have to win."

Meanwhile, Emery's counterpart, Luis Enrique, expressed delight with his team's performance, as he emphasised that PSG would not sit back and "speculate" in next Tuesday's second leg.

"The game had a bit of everything, but we controlled it," said the former Barcelona coach.

"It is always difficult to attack a team who sit in a medium to low block, and they scored on a transition practically the first time they got into our box.

"But, then 'Des' got the equalizer, and, again, in the second half, I thought we deserved to score more goals and win the game.

"The third goal at the end was the finishing touch.

"I think the last-minute goal reflects, or rewards, what we did over the 90 minutes," said Enrique, who won the Champions League with Barcelona in 2015.

"Our objective in Birmingham is clear: to try to win the game.

"We don't know how to speculate, or to sit back and defend deep."

AFP