This Tuesday at 9pm (CET), Paris Saint-Germain take on Aston Villa at Villa Park in the second leg of their Champions League 2024-2025 quarter-final tie (Paris won the first leg 3-1). In a press conference, Morgan Rogers, the Villans’ 22-year-old striker, spoke about the match and the Parisian opponent.
Rogers “I don’t think they need to tell me how good they are”
The advice given by Aston Villa’s Frenchmen, used to facing PSG
“I don’t think they need to tell me how good they are, I’ve seen it myself in previous rounds. But obviously they’ve got some experience against PSG and they’ve tried to help us on what it’s like to play at home and so on. It helps to have some feedback on having a game there, in a difficult environment.
Rogers “If anyone’s going to turn this confrontation around, it’s going to be us”.
How much does the group believe in it?
We really believe in it. Most people thought we’d be eliminated even before the first game. In the first leg, we showed what we could do, even if there are a few things we need to improve on for the return leg. But now we know what it’s like, we’ve already played them and it’s a bit easier. Now we’ve got a job to do.
We can’t wait to play a Champions League quarter-final on home soil, it doesn’t get much better than that. If anyone’s going to turn this tie around, it’s going to be us. We know it’s going to be difficult, we’re not saying we’re going to do it, but we’re going to try, and we’re going to go out there and win 100%,” comments relayed by RMC Sport.
What player or coach wouldn’t believe it? All top-level sportsmen and women go out onto the pitch to fight, win and qualify. The Champions League is an incredible competition, and every player dreams of winning it. When the dream is close at hand, believing in it is the best way to stay focused in the face of adversity.
Despite everything, it also sounds like the “Coué method”. PSG are bound to be shaken up away from home, more so than at the Parc des Princes, but losing by two goals to none is something that doesn’t happen very often. In fact, since 2025, their opponents have been severely outplayed, both in the game and on the scoreboard. It will take a great Aston Villa and a small PSG to see the order of things change, but for the English, they have to believe and go out on the pitch to qualify.