Aston Villa boss Unai Emery insists his team “believe in Villa Park” as they prepare for an uphill battle to overturn a two-goal deficit against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League quarter-finals.
After a 3-1 defeat in France, the odds are stacked against Villa, but their manager and players remain defiant ahead of Tuesday night’s return leg in Birmingham.
“We believe in our supporters, we believe in Villa Park,” Emery said. “It will be a huge challenge, but we feel strong at home.”
That belief is not unfounded — Villa are unbeaten at home in the Champions League this season, including a memorable win over Bayern Munich, and have recorded 11 wins in their past 17 home games across all competitions.
Defender Matty Cash echoed his manager’s confidence: “At home we are really strong. We’re more than capable of scoring two or three goals.”
Goalscorer Morgan Rogers added, “There’s loads of belief in the changing room. We have nothing to lose — why not just go for it?”
History offers a glimmer of hope. Nine teams have successfully come back from two-goal first-leg deficits in the Champions League. Notably, PSG have twice been on the losing end of such turnarounds — including their infamous 6-1 collapse to Barcelona in 2017.
But PSG are in red-hot form, winning their last 16 away games. While pundits like Stephen Warnock see the tie as “massively” tilted in PSG’s favour, Villa are banking on belief, form, and home support to script another Champions League shock.
