PSG coach Luis Enrique has showered praises on his players for booking a place in the last four of the 2024-25 Champions League despite their 3-2 loss to Aston Villa.
The French champions advanced thanks to a 5-4 aggregate victory after winning the first leg 3-1 in France.
PSG raced to a 2-0 lead in the first 27 minutes courtesy of Achraf Hakimi, and Nuno Mendes stunning strikes.
Aston Villa fought back to take a 3-2 lead in the second half thanks to goals from Youri Tielemans, John Mcginn, and Eric Konsa.
PSG goalkeeper produced a stunning performance with several impressive second half saved to deny Aston Villa a memorable comeback victory.
Luis Enrique hailed his squad as the best in the world after holding on to book their second semi-final in two years in the Champions League.
He said, “I think I have the best squad in the world, not only the goalkeeper. When you are in a club like PSG, you have a lot of quality players.
“I think in the whole two matches, we deserved to win. I am very happy because I can offer our supporters another qualification to the semi-final.
“We started the game in a great way, scoring two amazing goals, trying to take advantage of the spaces.
“In the second half, we suffered; it was very difficult. But I think we have to be prepared for that, our team, our players and our fans. And I would like to thank them, as they are with us and support us every day. We are very happy; we are in the semi-finals for the second year in a row. I think that’s a very good thing.
“They didn’t have anything to lose because they lost the first match and were losing at halftime in the first half (of the second leg).
“We cannot forget, this is the Champions League and you have to accept that the opposite team has a lot of quality. Aston Villa played with a lot of intensity in the second half.
“They didn’t have anything to lose because they lost the first match and were losing at halftime in the first half (of the second leg).”
Similarly, Aston Villa coach, Unai Emery was proud of his team’s performance despite failing to advance.
He said, “I am very proud of everything we did in the Champions League.
“It is now most important to get Europe again. The most important competition is the Champions League. The challenge we have for the last six matches (of the Premier League) is to try and get Europe and the Champions League.
PSG failed to win a UEFA Champions League game despite leading by 2 goals for the first time since March 2001 (4-3 loss vs Deportivo de La Coruña), having won 56 successive matches prior to the defeat against Aston Villa.
Luis Enrique’s side are in the hunt for a historic treble after sealing the French Ligue 1 title, and the French Cup. They will battle it out with the winner between Arsenal, and Real Madrid in the semi-final.
