Unai Emery challenged Aston Villa to make its way to the Champions League next season after their heartbreaking quarter-final Exit to Paris Saint-Germain.
With the Prince of Wales under the crowd in Villa Park, Villa fought back from 2-0 to win 3-2 but 5-4 was eliminated thanks to PSG's 3-1 victory in the first stage of last week in France.
In the Premier League, Villa is only one point shy for fifth place, which should guarantee access to the Champions League of the following season – and have important games against Rivals Newcastle and Manchester City.
“It is now the most important thing to get Europe again,” said Emery. 'The most important competition is the Champions League. The challenge we have in the last six games is to try to get Europe and the Champions League.
'Going to this level is the next step forward, I want to try to win with Aston Villa. We played two legs, we competed well. In the process we do here, tonight was the highest level we have reached.
'In the Champions League against teams like PSG is when we can test how we are happy. I am so happy and confident how we increase our standards.
'The players have shown their ability to play at this level – Bayern Munich and beat PSG. Our ambition is to be consistent in every competition, with the players we have or add more quality players in case we need them.
“I am confident in our ability to get our goals this season, as long as we work hard until the last games we play.”
Early goals from Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes brought PSG into control, but the bent strike of your Tielemans did not long before the rest gave Villa Hope.
And when John McGinn and Ezri Konsa scored twice in four second half minutes, Villa believed that the comeback was possible, and only the stunning rescues of Gianluigi Donnarumma denied them. When Ian Maatsen's stop time volley was blocked, PSG was finally at home and dry.
Konsa said: 'We showed tonight that we can compete at the highest level and do it next season. I thought we would get another one. It looked like this, we put a lot of pressure and Ian Maatsen had the chance. We are very proud of what we did tonight, but the two goals at the beginning killed us. '
After a quiet first half, Marcus Rashford performed excellently after the break. His run and shot pulled a stunning stop from Donnarumma and then the On-Loan Manchester United-Man showed fantastic deception to set up the third for Konsa.
The future of Rashford will be determined at the end of the campaign and Emery added: 'He feels comfortable and better, today he played a fantastic game. If he is happy, we are happy. It [signing him in the summer] is now difficult to plan. Then of course it depends on the circumstances and what happens in the coming weeks, and [what we have] Also in the following year. '
Comments