Unai Emery challenges Aston Villa players to write history ahead of PSG clash

Unai Emery wants his Aston Villa team to "write history" as they look to overcome a two-goal deficit against Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday.

Morgan Rogers opened the scoring in last Wednesday's first leg clash at the Parc des Princes but the Parisian outfit proved to be too much for the plucky Villans, with the hosts securing a 3-1 victory courtesy of goals from Desire Doue, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Nuno Mendes.

PSG, who are one of the favourites to win the competition for the first time in their history, are undoubtedly in the driving seat but Emery is hoping their visit to Villa Park will be an extremely uncomfortable experience.

Emery knows all too well of the magic the UEFA Champions League can conjure as the Basque tactician was the manager of PSG when they famously squandered a 4-0 first-leg lead to Barcelona in 2017, a defeat inflicted by none other than Luis Enrique.

"I have experiences, positively and negatively - in two ways," Emery recalled in his pre-match press conference.

"Now we have something different - we want to write history here with Aston Villa.

With the combination we have: mentally, individually and tactically, being so demanding in our process to get opportunities and believing, we can beat PSG.

Emery has transformed Villa Park into a fortress since his arrival at the club in October 2022 and Villa have already conquered the might of Bayern Munich at home on their return to Europe's elite club competition.

Villa are on a 17-match unbeaten run at home, a sequence that stretches back to November and includes the visit of Premier League champions-elect Liverpool. Emery himself flaunts a strong home record on the European stage, winning 11 of 13 as Villa boss.

"PSG have a lot of experience playing in away matches," Emery added. "They are playing in France and Europe and we have as well.

"But we will be connecting with our supporters and transmitting the energy, More or less, if we do, tactically and individually, good things on the field, the supporters are going to up our energy and help us a lot.

"They are going to transmit that energy always for our players."

• The Road to Rotterdam: Aston Villa's 1982 European Cup triumph

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Jaquob Crooke

• Aston Villa F.C.
• Paris Saint-Germain F.C.
• UEFA Champions League
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