Unai Emery reacted unlike any other manager when Aston Villa spurned two chances to take PSG to extra-time on Tuesday night.
Villa almost pulled off one of the great Champions League comebacks when they scored three goals unanswered to bring the tie to 5-4 on aggregate.
The Midlands side had looked down and out inside 27 minutes when Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes handed them a nightmare start – and a 5-1 aggregate mountain to climb.
But goals from Youri Tielemans, John McGinn, and Ezri Konsa brought a pulsating Villa Park within an inch of a legendary comeback – with 33 minutes left to play.
Marco Asensio, Morgan Rogers, Konsa, and Ian Maatsen all moments to change the course of history but were unable to infiltrate Gianluigi Donnarumma’s net one more time.
And Emery’s reactions to the latter two players’ missed opportunities were priceless.
Unai Emery could scarcely believe that Ezri Konsa didn’t make his header against PSG
He later reacted with similar disbelief when Ian Maatsen’s volley was blocked by Willian Pacho
After 71 minutes, Konsa, who had already scored, almost got his head on the end of a corner but couldn’t connect with it and the chance went begging.
Then, in the final minute, Maatsen unleashed a venemous volley which may have been destined to nestle in the corner, but Willian Pacho’s block left that script to the imagination.
On both occasions, Emery fell face-first to the ground and lay prone in disbelief in a reaction worthy of the West End.
For Maatsen’s volley, which had the whole ground believing, Emery put his hands n his head, then staggered to his knees, and finally fell to the ground.
Villa had almost taken the game to extra-time and inficted another humiliating collapse on the part of PSG, but Luis Enrique’s highly fancied French outfit clung on.
Emery later said: ‘At 2-0, it was big gap, but today we competed fantastic and it was good because the players followed the game plan, being consistent.
‘They were suffering as well with our press against them. This is the moment where we were missing that last minute [goal] in Paris.
‘Today, after 3-2, the last 20 minutes were missing that bit, pushing them and trying to get them even more tired to get the result.
Despite their brilliant run, he was clearly upset that Villa could not complete their comeback
Villa were devastated that they missed several chances to level the tie after scoring three goals
PSG advanced to the Champions League semi-finals after surviving an onslaught in England
‘Of course, we can feel happy, proud and comfortable with the work that we did. But if we want to achieve the next level, they showed the next level here and there.
‘But the supporters were enjoying it, transmitting the energy and we were feeling so confident here and my thanks to the supporters.’
Villa were playing in their first Champions League quarter-final since 1983 and held belief until the end that they could make the last four.
Despite only finishing 15th in the group phase, PSG have been amng the favourites for the tournament and are one of the two confirmed semi-finalists alongside Barcelona, who beat Borussia Dortmund 5-3 overall despite losing 3-1 at Signal Iduna Park.
On Wednesday, Arsenal will aim to advance after taking a 3-0 lead over Real Madrid, with Inter Milan defending a 2-1 advantage over Bayern Munich.
