“Guardiola told me the difference between PSG and Madrid and Barça…”

Unai Emery He still has a bitter memory of his time at PSG. In an interview given to the newspaper The Team, the current coach of Villarreal has reviewed his years in the French capital, remembering a prediction he made to Nasser Al Khelaïfi and trying to explain the reasons why he could not get past the round of 16 in the two seasons he was with the Parisian team.

About there being three former PSG coaches in the Champions League quarterfinalsEmery stresses: “That means they are all very good coaches. If they weren’t successful with PSG, it’s because there’s something else because PSG… (He doesn’t finish the sentence). This year is a step backwards, but I told Nasser (Al-Khelaïfi): “You will win the Champions League. In time you will win it”. Someone has to break the roof. PSG are on the right track because there is a form of consistency in results and they are still looking to progress.”

Regarding the fact that these three coaches (Tuchel, Ancelotti and Emery himself) could not win the Champions League in Paris, he added: “Because it is very difficult to beat teams like Bayern or City. Look at City with Guardiola who is the best coach in the world… The trainer is a kind of supreme character and only a select few are winners. And of these chosen ones, only one wins the Champions League. Does that mean the others are no good? Of course not”.

He also had words for explain the current situation of PSGalluding to words Guardiola said to him years ago: “Guardiola once told me that teams like Barça or Real Madrid, having already won the competition, react better to difficult situations. The key is managing frustration. When Barça (in the comeback) scored four goals and then five and the referee made a mistake, we didn’t know what to do. Against Real Madrid (in the second leg of the round of 16 the following season, 1-3, 1-0 in the first leg), the same thing happened. When Benzema equalized and then scored the second goal, I saw players I know well, like Kimpembe or Marquinhos, who didn’t know how to react because they were overcome with frustration.”