For half an hour, Paris Saint-Germain feared in the second stage of their UEFA Champions League quarter final against Aston Villa.
The club apparently did the hard work the week before in the Parc des Princes and had taken a 3-1 lead to Villa Park. And within 30 minutes they had succeeded in strengthening their total score twice to extend their lead in the draw to 5-1.
At the moment, however, PSG started relaxing. Villa fought back and scored three times to push the game to a nervous end. Les Parisiens lost in the night, but could still go beyond the Premier League side and set up a semi-final against Arsenal.
For João Neves (20) this defeat was a lesson for the club. The Portuguese midfielder explains in an interview with The Athletic: “I think it will serve as a lesson in the future. We cannot relax in a game, even for a minute, in a competition such as the Champions League. Now we are ready, we can learn from it and use it to improve.”
The results have not been great since the defeat in England. PSG won their next game against Le Havre AC, but went to FC Nantes and then lost to OGC Nice. The real test will of course be tonight when they visit the Emirates for the first stage of their collision with Arsenal.
GFFN | Nick Hartland