Matt Maher: Pain, pride and hunger - why PSG epic means things will never be the same for Aston Villa

Even in falling short, this was still one of Villa Park’s greatest nights. Truly, a game for the ages and a watershed moment in which Villa showed not only are they back at the top table of European football but they belong. 

More than that, it is now plausible for supporters to envision a scenario where their team actually wins the Champions League in the next few years. Just nine years on from the most humiliating of relegations and only 30 months since Emery inherited a team which seemed at real risk of returning to the Championship, such a notion feels almost unfathomable but is also undeniably true. The Europa League, much as it might have seemed an acceptable alternative prior to Tuesday night, will no longer do. It is the Champions League where Villa must be, for reasons both emotional and practical.

The biggest difficulty lies in the returning. It will be by no means straightforward. The next six days, starting with Saturday’s visit of Newcastle United and followed by Tuesday’s trip to Manchester City, will likely go a long way to deciding Villa’s fate in a race for a top-five Premier League finish which now even usurps FA Cup glory in terms of importance. 

Win both matches and it would be hard to see Emery’s men missing out. They could hardly be heading into the matches with any more momentum. Tuesday’s 3-2 win on the night was their ninth victory in the last 10 matches. A squad which for so much of the season was hampered by injury would appear to be peaking at the perfect moment. There may not be a stronger unit, at least in terms of depth, currently operating in the Premier League.

Getting back into the Champions League would give Emery the best chance of keeping it together and calling his own shots during the summer transfer window.

At the very least, it would seem crucial to the futures of those two loan stars, Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio, whose January arrivals have helped galvanise the season and who both, for better and worse, played their part in Tuesday night’s epic.

Rashford’s night, in many ways, mirrored that of the team as he came bursting into life in the second half. 

Many supporters would not have blinked an eye had Emery chosen to replace the forward at half-time, so underwhelming had been his performance levels. Yet later they were questioning why the manager decided to remove him with 14 minutes to play and Villa pushing hard for a leveller?

Twice denied by PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, the second time in spectacular fashion, Rashford showed sublime skill to set up Ezri Konsa to score the goal which brought the home side back within one of the visitors. 

His performance levels, across 15 appearances, have been patchy. Yet the highs have been such you suspect Villa will be more tempted than not to trigger their £40million option to buy. Putting together a financial package for a 27-year-old player contracted to £325,000-a-week at Manchester United, however, will almost certainly require the club to be receiving Champions League revenues next term.

It is the same for Asensio, two years Rashford’s senior, who has scored eight goals in 14 outings but was unable to complete the script which looked there to be written against his parent club when he found himself through on goal with 20 minutes to go. 

Asensio aimed between the legs of Donnarumma but the keeper got down low enough to make the save, ensuring the moment will forever be filed alongside Youri Tielemans’ header, Ezri Konsa’s mistimed lunge, Ian Maatsen’s volley and Nuno Mendes’ late strike in the first leg in the lengthy catalogue of ‘what if?’.

The final whistle brought pain and pride but most of all a hunger. No matter how much you might have tried to convince yourself, you were never going to be satisfied with this season being a one-off. PSG might have won this round but now you want the rematch and there’s only one competition in which that can happen.

For Emery and his players and a whole generation of Villa supporters, things will never be the same again.