After their humiliating defeat at the hands of Barcelona last season, losing 6-1 at the Nou Camp to crash out of the competition, Paris Saint Germain spent big in the summer to prevent such a capitulation from happening again. Transfer world records were broken as Neymar and Kylian Mbappe were recruited to team up with Edinson Cavani up front.
While Neymar has been simply unstoppable this season, it will be the form of Mbappe that is worrying for the Basque manager. Despite having made his name at Monaco, Mbappe is a Paris native, and is very popular in Ile-de-France.
However, the 19-year-old has struggled recently and the form of a resurgent Angel di Maria has thrown a spanner into the works for the outfit from the Parc des Princes. Mbappe missed three weeks with concussion, and on his return was sent off for a nasty challenge against Rennes. In his absence, Di Maria has flourished, and would relish the chance against his old employers.
Emery also has a decision to make in midfield, with Thiago Motta still not fully fit after being sidelined six weeks ago. The likely replacement will be Lassana Diarra, whose journeyman career took another unexpected twist when 'les Parisiens' picked him up as a free agent a few weeks ago.
Layvin Kuzawa's lack of concentration could also force a change at left back, especially against Gareth Bale and Dani Carvajal, with Yuri Berchiche regarded as the safer defensive option.
To fall at this hurdle for the second consecutive season is exactly what PSG and their Qatar-based backers were looking to avoid when they changed the face of the transfer market in summer, but against Europe's premier club, who look to be hitting their stride just at the right time, even if Emery makes every correct decision, nothing is certain.
8 February 2018