Unai Emery is targeting more Champions League nights with Aston Villa (Paul ELLIS)
Unai Emery believes there is more to come from Aston Villa as they exited the Champions League with pride after a thrilling 3-2 victory over Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday.
The French champions prevailed 5-4 on aggregate to reach the semi-finals thanks to their 3-1 first leg lead, but lost at Villa Park for just the second time in 19 matches.
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Emery’s men nearly produced one of the most memorable Champions League fightbacks in history.
From 2-0 down on the night, they needed four goals to force extra-time and were only denied by a series of stunning saves from Gianluigi Donnarumma after strikes from Youri Tielemans, John McGinn and Ezri Konsa.
“I’m very proud of everything we did. To get to this level is the next step forward that I want to try to build with Aston Villa,” said Emery, who has transformed Villa’s fortunes since taking charge in 2022.
“Today it was fantastic how we were feeling here with our supporters. The crowd was fantastic. They enjoyed it as much as we did.”
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Villa’s first foray into Europe’s elite competition since 1983 also included a famous victory over Bayern Munich in the group stage.
Emery’s men are involved in a tight battle for a place in the competition again next season via a top-five finish in the Premier League.
Villa sit seventh but are just one point behind fifth-placed Manchester City with six games to go.
“Through (the) Premier League is very difficult,” added Emery. “It’s the more demanding objective we can have is to get again Champions League.
“The challenge we have now is for the last six matches we are going to play, try to get Europe and try to get Champions League. And in case not, the Europa League or Conference League.”
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Marcus Rashford could be key to Villa’s success or failure in that objective.
The England international has been reborn since a January loan move from Manchester United and Emery is hopeful of keeping Rashford on a permanent deal next season.
“Probably he’s feeling comfortable, probably he’s feeling better and today he played a fantastic match,” he said. “We are happy with him and he’s happy with us.”
PSG’s quest to win the Champions League for the first time remains alive.
Luis Enrique’s men were at their brilliant best in the first half as full-backs Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes struck inside the first 27 minutes to seemingly put the tie to bed.
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But the PSG boss is hoping they will learn from their second half collapse in time for a tougher test against either Arsenal or Real Madrid in the last four.
“I think I have the best squad in the world, not only the goalkeeper,” said Luis Enrique when asked whether Donnarumma is the world’s best.
“When you are in a club like PSG, you have a lot of quality players. Gio is one of the best goalkeepers in the world and I have to say that match for us is something that allows us to grow up and try to compete even better.”
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