‘It will serve as a lesson’ – João Neves reflects on PSG’s Aston Villa scare | OneFootball

For half an hour, Paris Saint-Germain were cruising in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final against Aston Villa.

The club had seemingly done the hard work the week before at the Parc des Princes, and had taken a 3-1 lead to Villa Park. And within 30 minutes, they had managed to bolster their aggregate scoring twice to extend their lead in the tie to 5-1.

However, at this point, PSG began to relax. Villa fought back, scoring three times to push the game to a nervy end. Les Parisiens lost on the night but were still able to progress past the Premier League side and set up a semi-final against Arsenal.

For João Neves (20), this defeat was a lesson for the club. The Portuguese midfielder explains in an interview with The Athletic, “I think it will serve as a lesson going forward. We can’t relax in any game, even for a minute, in a competition like the Champions League. Now we’re through, we can learn from it and use it to improve.”

Troubling results for PSG

Results have not been great since the defeat in England. PSG won their next game against Le Havre AC, but drew to FC Nantes, and then lost to OGC Nice. The true test of course will be tonight when they visit the Emirates for the first leg of their clash with Arsenal.

GFFN | Nick Hartland