{"id":10267,"date":"2025-04-11T08:09:09","date_gmt":"2025-04-11T08:09:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/10267\/"},"modified":"2025-04-11T08:09:09","modified_gmt":"2025-04-11T08:09:09","slug":"its-not-done-yet-why-unai-emery-and-his-aston-villa-players-still-believe-they-can-see-off-psg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/10267\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s not done yet\u2019: Why Unai Emery and his Aston Villa players still believe they can see off PSG"},"content":{"rendered":"

Does a team take more or less solace from knowing the opposition were simply too good or that they were so powerless to prevent what just happened?<\/p>\n

Unai Emery is a manager with a thirst for details and will, over the next week<\/a>, scour the footage from Wednesday night\u2019s first leg and try to find ways to prevent, to improve and even to overcome Paris Saint-Germain in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Consistent gains and unwavering belief are what Aston Villa have been built on since Emery\u2019s arrival two and a half years ago and have, more broadly, created an extraordinary transformation.<\/p>\n

There is a steeliness to Emery after defeats. His no-excuse culture has fostered an inner resolve within his players where, like the Darwinian evolution theory, they must continue to adapt and grow or be left behind. Those characteristics will have to be depended on like never before if Villa are to turn around PSG\u2019s 3-1 lead in that second leg.<\/p>\n

Even when Emery drills down on the specifics and takes stock, there is unlikely to be one major regret from his return to Paris<\/a> to face one of his former clubs, nor one area of contrition over Villa\u2019s strategy for the game. Best-laid plans and efforts can be undone by individual excellence or a superior team, which PSG were.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe positive aspect? How we competed,\u201d Emery said, with his final but most pertinent answer post-match.<\/p>\n

Villa had scored first and trailed only 2-1 going into second-half stoppage time but overall were truly engulfed by PSG\u2019s brilliance.<\/p>\n

Emery opted for the same line-up that beat Brighton & Hove Albion 3-0 away in the Premier League a week earlier but he demonstrated that changing instructions can alter a team\u2019s dynamic, even if the players chosen to carry them out are the same. It is the critical, often overlooked ingredient to his managerial success.<\/p>\n

If he insisted the best way to control the intensity of Premier League matches \u201cis through ball possession\u201d, then the inverse appeared to be true last night in the French capital. In the first 10 minutes, Villa touched the ball only twice in the PSG half \u2014 the stat telling you they\u2019d had even 15 per cent of the possession felt generous.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Emery will have few regrets after Villa\u2019s first leg against PSG, despite the 3-1 defeat (Michael Steele\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Instead, Emery isolated the few weaknesses in Luis Enrique\u2019s team. He wanted to exploit the spaces in the channels which PSG\u2019s adventurous full-backs left on transition. This materialised for Villa\u2019s goal, when John McGinn stole the ball from left-back Nuno Mendes and found Marcus Rashford, running forward and in sufficient room due to right-back Achraf Hakimi essentially playing as an attacking midfielder for large periods.<\/p>\n

Morgan Rogers was at the back post to convert Youri Tielemans\u2019 low cross and, for four fleeting minutes, Villa held the momentum.<\/p>\n

Although against a group of vibrant, hungry players who hunt like wolves before fizzing and whizzing in possession, with relentless ball speed and intricate rotations, Villa could only make up for the deficit in quality and European pedigree through hard work.<\/p>\n

One team was overwhelmingly dominant and the other, like a cyclist alongside a high-spec sports car, toiled to keep pace. PSG made 569 more passes, registered four times the number of shots (29 to seven) and had nine corners to Villa\u2019s one.<\/p>\n

However, for all their rhythm and flow, they did not create what Opta defines as a \u2018big chance\u2019 \u2014 a situation where a player should reasonably be expected to score \u2014 \u00a0until the 92nd minute, when Mendes broke beyond Villa\u2019s back five to score their third.<\/p>\n

Before then, PSG\u2019s expected goals (xG)<\/a> tally stood at 1.34, a number Villa\u2019s coaching staff would have been reasonably happy with. The two other goals \u2014 from 27 shots (below) \u2014 were generated by stand-alone artistry from their two wingers, Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Red-and-blue PSG flags shimmied at full time as Villa\u2019s players trudged off the pitch, visibly tired and in all likelihood psychologically worn down, too. They were left gasping for air after being suffocated for large parts, if not all, of the contest. If this was Villa\u2019s first big away fixture against a European powerhouse, it seemed a particularly acute welcome.<\/p>\n

A tifo display sprawled above the PSG ultras pre-game displayed a skull wearing a flat cap, in \u2018tribute\u2019 \u2014 or provocation \u2014 of the television drama Peaky Blinders, which is largely set in Birmingham, Villa\u2019s home city. They whistled and howled every time Villa had the chutzpah to possess the ball and rose to their feet each time one of their front line drove dangerously down the flanks.<\/p>\n

Villa were aware of PSG\u2019s strengths in wide areas and constructed a system that saw the winger closest to the ball drop into defence to form a back five. The purpose was to provide cover against the looming, multi-faceted threats of Doue and Kvaratskhelia. Right-back Matty Cash was booked early and then substituted at half-time for Axel Disasi, who was left in the unenviable position of being one-against-one against Kvaratskhelia. He was twisted inside out for the winger\u2019s goal.<\/p>\n

Emery tried to introduce three substitutes in the final quarter of an hour, but such was the sustained hellfire those on the field were trying to stave, Ian Maatsen \u2014 who essentially served as a second left-back \u2014 Amadou Onana and Ollie Watkins were stranded on the touchline waiting for the ball to go out for six minutes.<\/p>\n

The manager shouted at Emiliano Martinez to kick long and hoped to take PSG back to Villa Park with only a one-goal deficit. Shutting up shop was the intention, so Mendes\u2019 late third was a particularly cruel blow.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Morgan Rogers gave Villa a surprise \u2013 and brief \u2013 lead (Carl Recine\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Afterwards, the response from Villa players and staff centred on \u201cbelief\u201d. It was the first word spoken on social media and the default answer for Emery.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last goal is a little bit disappointing because it is the last minute,\u201d he told reporters. \u201cBut it is not changing our mind or our belief. We have to win the next match.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s loads of belief in the changing room,\u201d Rogers told TNT Sports, the game\u2019s UK broadcaster. \u201cWe have nothing to lose, nobody thought we\u2019d win the tie in the first place. Why not just go for it? We\u2019ve got the quality to turn things around. It\u2019s not done yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

If that return leg is to be the end of the road, Villa are in reliable hands for what comes next. Their performance in Paris carried pride, though undoubtedly not the quality their counterparts did.<\/p>\n

Despite the external perception, Emery is an inherent optimist.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will win the next week, I believe,\u201d he said, having relayed the same message to his dressing room shortly before. \u201cVilla Park is our home. We can get stronger and get (our) duels better than we did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emery will always endeavour to improve and find glory from the very depths of likely defeats. At Villa Park \u2014 where they are on an unbeaten league run of 15 games \u2014 his side can, and often do, beat anyone. Yet winning there against this extraordinary, well-rounded PSG team would break new ground and potentially give the old place its greatest night in generations.<\/p>\n

In Paris, it was one step too far.<\/p>\n

(Top photo: Bertrand Guay\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Does a team take more or less solace from knowing the opposition were simply too good or that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10268,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[102,748,1614,393,4884,7068,12,1144,6544,101,712,16,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-10267","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-aston-villa","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-champions-league","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-ligue-1","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-northern-ireland","16":"tag-paris-saint-germain","17":"tag-premier-league","18":"tag-scotland","19":"tag-uk","20":"tag-united-kingdom","21":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114318315908065707","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10267"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10267\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}