Unai Emery: 'A lot can happen in 90 minutes'

Paris Saint-Germain’s manager Unai Emery knows Barça well having faced them on many occasions with different teams. The Basque coach spoke to the media ahead of tomorrow’s return leg and emphasised how “a lot can happen in 90 minutes”. He went on to add: “we will have to play with a lot of character and confidence while being true to our footballing ideals.”

The French side’s coach stated: “we are playing against a great team; I have a lot of respect for Barça. We need to play like we did in the first leg, attacking, defending and dominating the individual battles. It is an opportunity to continue growing as a team.” Emery seemed in confident mood: “I am very confident in my team independent of the result at the Parc des Princes.” “I have a lot of respect for Barça, they are a great team” 

“I have a lot of respect for Barça, they are a great team”

Concerning Luis Enrique’s potential formation, Emery said: “They have lots of options in terms of systems and personnel. On top of that, they have the ability to be decisive individually.” Moreover, the Basque coach spoke glowingly about Barça’s manager: “he is a great coach and a great person.”

On the subject of his own side, Emery announced “Guedes and Thiago Motta are not available and we will make a decision on the rest after the training session.” When discussing Thiago Silva, Emery stated: “he is our captain and a very important player for us who has a lot of experience.”

PSG come into the return leg at the Camp Nou off the back of a fantastic run: in the last 16 official games they have played they have won 14 and drawn two. In fact, they are yet to lose in 2017. However, they are still second in Ligue 1, three points behind Monaco in top spot. Cavani is the leading scorer in the competition with an impressive 27 goals. Moreover, they have qualified for the quarter finals of the Coupe de France and are in the final of the Coupe de la Ligue in which they face Monaco.