Morgan Rogers and Unai Emery discuss Aston Villa’s prospects of making a comeback against Paris Saint-Germain.

Morgan Rogers has insisted that Aston Villa’s UEFA Champions League quarter-final tie with Paris Saint-Germain is “not done yet,” despite suffering a defeat in the first leg at the Parc des Princes.

The Villa forward opened the scoring for the visitors with a close-range effort, but the match quickly turned in favour of Luis Enrique’s side. Superb solo goals from Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia either side of half-time saw PSG take control, before Nuno Mendes added a third in stoppage time.

Despite the 3-1 loss, Rogers remains optimistic ahead of the second leg at Villa Park, citing the “quality” within Unai Emery’s squad and their impressive home form this season.

Speaking to TNT Sports, Rogers said, “There is loads of belief in the changing room. We’ve got nothing to lose. No one had us to win the tie in the first place, so why not just go for it? That’s the mentality I have, that’s the mentality everyone has and the manager as well.”

He continued, “We’ve got to just keep going for it and keep believing that we can do it and see where it takes us, but we’ve definitely got the quality to turn it around so it’s not done yet.”

Rogers also expressed confidence in his team’s ability to challenge any opponent, stating, “We’ve got enough quality in the room to cause any team in the world problems. Now we’re going back home and that’s where we know our best form is and the way we play is better probably at home this season.”

Villa manager Unai Emery is no stranger to Champions League comebacks, having been at the helm of PSG when they suffered a notorious defeat to Barcelona in 2017. Unsurprisingly, he shares Rogers’ optimism and believes that the support from their fans at Villa Park will be crucial in turning the tie around.

Emery told TNT Sports, “We will play at home next week and it will be a huge challenge for us, but we will feel strong at home with our supporters at Villa Park. We believe in our supporters, we believe in Villa Park and that the players can get the best performance next week.”

The Villa boss is aware that his side must improve in both defence and attack to have a chance of progressing. Reflecting on the performance in Paris, he said, “Today, we needed to be disciplined in defence and even when we were losing 2-1, we had three approaches in their box. In the first half, we had three or four chances to get in their box, maybe only one chance to score. We needed to be clinical and we were in the first half, not in the second.”

PSG, who recently secured the Ligue 1 title with six games to spare, are considered one of the favourites for Champions League success this season after eliminating league-phase winners Liverpool in the last 16.

Rogers acknowledged the challenge posed by the “deadly” French champions, saying, “It was difficult. We knew it was going to be difficult coming into it; we’ve watched their last few games and how deadly and sharp they’ve been. I think they’ve put the world on notice of how good they are.”

He added, “We didn’t want to come here and just be spectators, we wanted to take part and try and compete, and I felt we did that for large parts. They’re a really good team, they’re well organised, got stars all over the pitch. It was difficult.”

Aston Villa will next face Southampton in the Premier League on Saturday before returning home for the crucial second leg next Tuesday.