Aston Villa UNAI Emery manager suggested there is no time to release Marcus Rashford and Ollie watkins As a strike partnership against Paris Saint-Germain In the quarterfinal of the Champions League on Tuesday.
Villa must turn over deficit 3-1 from the first stage when teams meet in Villa Park but Emery don’t think England International Rashford and Watkins can play like the front two.
“The next step, if I have time, is to play them together,” Emery said at a press conference on Monday. “We did with Rashford playing the left side, but now we choose more with both playing as attackers. That’s another step. I want to practice. I want to test but not now, with enough time.”
Rashford impressed during the magic of loan from Manchester Unitedwith three goals in recent weeks. Watkins scored 15 this season, including one that created a 3-0 victory against Southampton Saturday after he came as a replacement.
Emery said Watkins feels “fantastic”, but still has to decide what team will play against the French PSG champion.
“I do not have my idea at the beginning of 11, I have my idea, a plan, a total of 90 minutes or a shootout for the match tomorrow,” he said. “Each player must know his task in the field and must also understand how we can handle the match emotionally and tactically, in case they are in the field to perform their task.”
Emery said his players must believe that they can create an epic comeback to book their place in the semifinals.
“We want to write here history with Aston Villa,” he said.
Despite his advantage of two goals, Emery’s opposite number in the PSG trench quickly dropped any suggestions that his team was popular to advance to the semifinals.
“Of course we were better in the first stage and deserved victory, but the story is over. Now the second story is starting. We will see who is better, who will win,” said PSG coach Luis Enrique. “We have the advantage, but it is not suitable for our philosophy of thinking with certainty. We still have this idea that we will not calculate.
“If Aston Villa scores or win, we have to show in this match that we have the level needed to achieve the semifinals.”
Luis Enrique added that he expected domestic supporters to create a depressing atmosphere in Villa, but called on his party to accept this challenge.
“We want to try to solve the problems that Aston Villa will introduce to us,” he added. “Our goal is to win. For us it’s always about a competitive stadium like Villa Park. We like to play at home and away. It’s not a problem but motivation.”
In this story, information from Reuters and Associated Press was used.
