Emery says Villa are where they expected to be in PSG tie

Unai Emery feels Aston Villa’s 3-1 Champions League defeat to Paris Saint-German was the result they expected before the match, and will not give up hope of a second-leg comeback.

Villa travelled to the Parc des Princes as big outsiders, and though they briefly led against the run of play through Morgan Rogers, PSG soon flexed their muscles.

Desire Doue’s curling effort got the hosts level in the 39th minute, then Khvicha Kvaratskhelia went one better with a nonchalant ball roll and crashing strike in the second half.

Villa defended deep in a bid to limit PSG to 2-1, but Nuno Mendes’ composed finish gave Luis Enrique’s men additional breathing room deep into stoppage time.

PSG had 29 shots to Villa’s seven, marking the fifth time since the start of last season that they had 20 more shots than their opponents in a Champions League match, the joint-most of any side in that span, alongside Manchester City.

The hosts also recorded their highest passing accuracy in any Champions League game on record (since 2003-04), with their 94.5% also the second-highest by any team ever in the knockout rounds.

But Emery was not too disheartened by Villa conceding a late third, saying the game went as expected and insisting his team will be more positive on home soil next Tuesday.

“It was more or less the expectation I had before the match – 2-1 or 3-1,” the former PSG boss told TNT Sports.

“We will play at home next week, and it will be a huge challenge for us, but we will feel strong at home, with our supporters at Villa Park.

“Today, we needed to be disciplined in defence and even when we were losing 2-1, we had three approaches in their box.

“More or less, we got our momentum right, to be close to a result. The last goal we conceded, we have to accept it. It doesn’t change a lot – we have to win at home, by more than one goal.

“In the first half, we had three or four chances to get in their box, but maybe only one chance to score. We needed to be clinical, and we were in the first half, not in the second.

“We believe in our supporters, we believe in Villa Park and that the players can bring the best performance next week.”

Thanks for the support in Paris tonight, Villans — safe journey home pic.twitter.com/lXb59iyrfi

— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) April 9, 2025

Goalscorer Rogers also refused to give up hope, saying Villa have nothing to lose against a team considered one of the favourites to win the tournament.

“We knew it would be difficult and knew how deadly they are. We didn’t want to just come here and be spectators,” he said. “Obviously, the scoreline is not in our favour, but we’ve got another game, and we’ll try and turn it around.

“We’re here for a reason, we’re not here to just compete. We want to keep fighting, and we have the quality to compete with any team in the world.

“We have nothing to lose, nobody thought we’d win the tie in the first place. Why not just go for it? We’ve definitely got the quality to turn things around. It’s not done yet.”

Before the second leg of this tie, Villa visit already relegated Southampton in the Premier League on Saturday.