The teaching from this spectacular game summed up Luis Enrique quite impressively. The coach of Paris Saint-Germain was asked what he learned after the 2: 3 defeat in the quarter-final second leg with Aston Villa. “The lesson I learned from this game?” Asked the Spaniard back. “That you should never be too safe.” Despite the 3: 1 success from the first leg, the French had to tremble properly in the end-but it was still enough for the semi-finals despite the tight defeat. So also with this conclusion, Enrique was correct: “We are still fighting for all titles.” The English had at least made life very difficult, but the former Achraf Hakimi (11th minute) and Nuno Mendes (27th) had put the guests in the lead early. But then Youri Tielemans (34th), John McGinn (55th) and Ezri Konsa (57.) turned the fast -paced game in favor of the team of coach Unai Emery. However, Villa did not score another goal, also because Paris was able to rely on the strong goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. “This is not our game” of the Italians punched the balls afterwards, he showed outstanding reflexes and thus prevented the comeback from the English. “To win the Champions League, you need a great goalkeeper – and he has once again demonstrated its value,” praised captain Marquinhos at Canal+. “We know that he is one of the best goalkeepers in the world. He helped the team a lot,” added Achraf Hakimi. Paris had to thank Donnarumma, who had kept his nerve in the largest Villa urge and prevented a higher deficit with three glossy dates (57./60./70.). Donnarumma had already shone in a penalty shootout at the round of 16 of Liverpool. And unlike in 2017, when PSG lost 1: 6 at FC Barcelona after a furious 4: 0, the lead was enough. “I don’t think PSG has ever been dominated,” said Luis Enrique. “The game was crazy. We suffered a lot. You always shot balls into our penalty area. This is not our game. We are a small team. Corner balls are not our favorite aspect. We are not made to defend it.” “We made life difficult for ourselves, in the second half we switched off completely”, criticized Ousman Dembélé. But in the end it was enough for the French in front of Prince William’s eyes with son George, both great Aston Villa fans. In the semifinals, the French now meet the winner of the game between Real Madrid and FC Arsenal. The English had won the first leg 3-0.
