Ludogorets Razgrad vs Paris Saint Germain - PSG must make their mark in the UEFA CL

Posted Wednesday, September 28, 2016 by PA

Unai Emery acknowledges that Paris St Germain must make their mark in the Champions League if they are to be considered one of Europe's biggest clubs.

PSG have dominated domestically in recent years, winning the French title for the last four seasons, but the Ligue 1 club have never made it past the quarter-final stage of the Champions League.

They reached the last eight again last season, losing to Manchester City, and it was not enough to see Laurent Blanc retain his job.

Emery replaced Blanc with the PSG board opting for a man with considerable European success, having won the Europa League with Sevilla for the past three years.

The Spaniard, whose team travel to Ludogorets on matchday two after drawing their opening Group A fixture 1-1 at home against Arsenal, wants to take PSG further in the competition this time round.

"We are on our way to becoming one of the big clubs in Europe," Emery told Cadena Cope. "The aim is clear and that is to grow in one direction.

"For that to happen, you need time and PSG has already invested for that to happen in the past seasons. The Champions League is a big ambition of ours. Last year, PSG reached the quarter-finals but we want more."

Asked if he had altered his approach when dealing with big-name players now that he is in charge of PSG, Emery said: "I treat the players the same here as I did back when I started to coach Lorca in the third division.

"What you want is to transmit a message to your players. You have to understand the egos are there at every level.

"You have to convince them that we need to follow a common path in order to win. These players are more accustomed to winning but I remind them every day that the challenge is to win again and that is the most difficult thing."

Emery will be without the injured Hatem Ben Arfa (shin splints) and Jese (knee) on Wednesday night in Bulgaria.

Ludogorets are nine matches unbeaten in all competitions, winning six of them, and began their Champions League campaign with a 1-1 draw at Basle.