No misguided optimism on the part of underdogs Villa

The way Unai Emery has tried to explain it, Nuno Mendes’s injury-time goal at the Parc des Princes didn’t alter much.

- RICHARD JOLLY

The temptation was to think it made Aston Villa’s task twice as hard, from the tough to the borderline impossible. Emery disagreed, both in the wake of defeat to Paris Saint-Germain last week and ahead of the rematch.

“From 2-1 to 3-1 is changing something,” he said. “A lot? No, because we have to win. Now we have to win with one more goal.” One more? Villa mustered one, marvellously constructed, goal in the French capital but they only had one other shot on target and mustered a mere nine touches in the PSG box. This evening, they need two goals, plus a clean sheet, just to ensure an extra 30 minutes. “If we are getting extra time, fantastic and if we are getting a penalty shootout, it could be fantastic,” argued Emery.

Villa have optimism and reasons behind it. They confounded expectations to lead in the Parc des Princes, albeit only for four minutes. Morgan Rogers, the scorer then, approaches the rematch with confidence. “There’s massive belief,” the winger said. “Most people wrote us off before the tie. The first leg, we gave a pretty good account of ourselves. If anyone is going to turn it around, it is going to be us. We are not saying we are going to do it, but we will give it a good go.”