Aston Villa manager Unai Emery is ecstatic about guiding his team into the Champions League quarter-finals, but he is now aiming for even greater heights as they prepare for a challenging encounter with Paris St Germain.
“Reaching the Champions League quarter-finals is a significant achievement for our club; facing Paris St Germain is something we should take pride in,” said Emery following Wednesday’s victory over Club Brugge in the Round of 16.
“We have reached this level, and we should be proud, yet we aspire for more. We wish to compete against the very best teams in the world. Our immediate focus is to strive for a level that matches our upcoming challenge.“
Emery, who has lifted the Europa League trophy four times, acknowledged that PSG would be tough adversaries after their win against Liverpool secured them a place in the quarter-finals.
“Competing in a quarter-final is fantastic; we are all extremely excited and motivated,” he remarked.
“Facing PSG will be a challenge. They demonstrated their strength against Liverpool, who until recently were considered the top team in the Premier League and in Europe.“
The Villa boss, who previously managed PSG from 2016 to 2018, expressed his dissatisfaction with his team’s first-half performance against Brugge in the second leg, where they failed to capitalise on a numerical advantage. However, they turned it around with three goals in the second half, securing a 6-1 aggregate win.
“I’m really pleased with how we performed across both matches,” he stated.
He particularly praised Marco Asensio, who netted two goals after coming on as a substitute in the second half.
“We’re very pleased with him. We’re managing his fitness as he’s not yet at 100 percent… He felt good today and wanted to start, but I opted to rest him. When he came on, he rose to the occasion and made the difference by scoring goals.“
Compiled by SportArena.com.au.
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