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• BBC
• Tue Apr 15 2025

Unai Emery has enjoyed too much success in Europe to listen to talk of glorious failure but, if there is such a thing, Aston Villa delivered it on a night of pure theatre at Villa Park.

Villa's Champions League odyssey ended with defeat by Paris St-Germain, but the manner in which they unnerved arguably the most impressive side in this season's competition demonstrated that they belonged in this elite company.

It has been 42 years since they were last in this competition, then as holders. It will not be as long again if they continue the progress under expert European operator Emery, who almost engineered yet another glory night to add to his stellar managerial CV.

It is probably just as long since the grand old stadium rocked like this in such an electric atmosphere, as Villa looked down and out when PSG struck twice early on to extend their 3-1 advantage from the first leg in Paris.

At 5-1 down on aggregate, it had all the makings of a long and painful night for Spanish boss Emery and his players as they were punished by this brutally brilliant PSG.

But they launched a stunning series of counter-punches that left PSG on the ropes, and Villa just one goal away from forcing extra time.

Villa Park is a stadium built for the Champions League - although there was a mis-step before kick-off when the Europa League theme was played.

It is something they will not want to hear next season.