No shame in losing to Real, says Emery

PARIS - Beleaguered Paris Saint-Germain coach Unai Emery said there was no shame in losing to Real Madrid after the expensively-assembled French side crashed out of the Champions League on Tuesday.

"To be eliminated in the last 16 is a disappointment, but to lose against Real Madrid is not." said the Spaniard, whose side, shorn of the injured Neymar, lost 2-1 in the second leg of its last-16 tie.

"Real deserved to go through. There is no other analysis,"

Cristiano Ronaldo and Casemiro scored the goals for Real in the second half, either side of Edinson Cavani's scrambled effort for the host.

The loss condemned PSG - which had Marco Verratti sent off in the second half - to a 5-2 aggregate loss, the second straight season it has been knocked out in the last 16 after a humiliating loss against Barcelona a year ago.

"The objective was the Champions League. Now is not the time to think about the future," said Emery, whose contract is up at the end of this season.

PSG has not made it past the quarterfinals of the Champions League since Qatar Sports Investments bought the club in 2011 and started to lavish huge sums of money on players.

It took its spending spree to a whole new level last year, spending a world-record $264 million to sign Neymar from Barcelona and committing $200 million to sign Kylian Mbappe from Monaco.

Once again it has fallen short, but despite the crushing nature of another premature exit from Europe, Emery is confident the Qatar-backed club will eventually go all the way in the Champions League - even if it is without him at the helm.

"We all want it to be quick and fast, but I'm convinced PSG can do it," he said.

"It's sure that we will continue, as much as patience allows, to build a team that can win in the future. When I came here I said I was sure this team can win the Champions League. But it's a process.

"It could be next year or a year after that. But PSG fans will see in the future, that the team can win it and then win many times."