Ezri Konsa spoke of his pride after Aston Villa pushed Paris Saint-Germain all the way before bowing out of the UEFA Champions League.
Trailing 3-1 from last week’s quarter-final first leg, Unai Emery’s side went two goals down at Villa Park after Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes found the net for the visitors inside the opening 27 minutes.
But Youri Tielemans gave the Villans first-half hope, before two goals in three minutes from captain John McGinn and Konsa sent a vociferous Villa Park wild.
The hosts had chances to force extra-time but, despite a brave and heroic 3-2 victory on the night, it wasn’t to be as PSG emerged with a narrow 5-4 victory on aggregate.
“Very proud of the boys, of what we’ve done tonight,” said Konsa.
“Obviously the two goals at the start killed us.
“But we showed great belief, great character to get back into the game.
“We won the second leg but unfortunately it wasn’t enough.”
Villa can reflect on a memorable Champions League journey, which started with victory at BSC Young Boys in September.
Emery’s charges remained unbeaten on home soil throughout six matches in B6, winning five, including matches against PSG and Bayern Munich.
The claret and blue faithful rose as one at the full-time whistle to show their appreciation and unwavering support, with a thunderous atmosphere throughout on a memorable night at Villa Park.
And there remains plenty still to play for this season as Villa chase a top-five finish in the Premier League, for more nights like these next season, and have an FA Cup semi-final at Wembley to look forward to.
Reflecting on the second-half comeback, Konsa added: “At half-time we had nothing to lose, that’s what we said in there.
“We wanted to go out there and prove a point.
“The boys dug deep, we pressed well. I think you could see that.
“We had chances, we did, and I think I scored the hardest one.
“But, it is what it is, and we move on.”
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