Aston Villa 3-2 PSG: Unai Emery’s side showed they belong in Champions League

The pre-match build-up was more rock concert than football match, with flames and pyrotechnics lighting up Villa Park, fireworks flying over either side of the stadium from the roof of the towering stands.

The trademark stern expression of legendary former Villa manager Ron Saunders gazed down from the giant screens before kick-off as one of the most famous quotes in the club’s history was revived, echoing around the stadium.

“Do you want to bet against us?” is a message fixed in Villa folklore, Saunders delivering it when they stumbled and were doubted before winning the league title in 1981.

Everyone inside Villa Park would have had a bet against them as Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes put PSG 2-0 up inside the first half-hour.

“Start the car,” said one despondent Villa fan. It is to be hoped he did not follow his own advice otherwise he would have missed a thriller that left the stadium knee-deep in chewed fingernails by the final whistle.

Instead of subsiding, Villa rose to rattle PSG in a manner that was well beyond Manchester City and Liverpool in previous Champions League rounds this season.

Youri Tielemans got one back, then it really was game on when John McGinn and Ezri Konsa struck twice in three minutes early in the second half.

PSG’s inexperience was exposed, but the brilliant keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma saved superbly from Marcus Rashford, Tielemans and Marco Asensio to repel Villa’s assault.

In a deafening wall of sound and with PSG being given a fearful going over, Emery actually threw himself to the floor in a mixture of despair and disbelief when Konsa just failed to make contact with a header and the goal at his mercy.

The great comeback was just beyond Villa, but in the disappointment there was glory.