Paris Saint-Germain and Aston Villa are set to face off on Wednesday evening in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final clash at Parc des Princes.
This is the first time both clubs will lock horns in any European competition, fuelling the excitement for this mouth-watering, high-stakes showdown.
Both sides will be aiming to gain an advantage ahead of the second leg, with a place in the semi-finals up for grabs.
The winner over the two legs will move on to face either Real Madrid or Arsenal in the final four.
PSG are one of the favourites to win the Champions League this season, and they’ll be desperate to live up to expectations as they chase the continental holy grail.
Considering that this is the only trophy missing from their glittering cabinet, it wouldn’t be surprising to see PSG fans pick up UEFA Champions League final tickets from Seatsnet.com, hoping to see their side make it to the showpiece.
However, they’d have to get past Villa first, and it wouldn’t be a cakewalk, especially with Unai Emery in the opposition dugout.
Match Preview
PSG booked their place in the Champions League quarter-finals after a tense and thrilling second-leg showdown against Liverpool at Anfield.
Despite losing at home in the first leg, the French giants bounced back in style, winning 4-1 on penalties after drawing the tie on aggregate.
PSG’s road to the quarter-finals has been far from a cakewalk.
Luis Enrique’s youthful squad – boasting the youngest average starting XI still in the tournament – struggled in the group stage and barely scraped into the knockout rounds.
But the French champions have been a different beast since then.
After thrashing fellow French side Brest 10-0 on aggregate in the last 16 play-offs, they faced a much sterner test in Liverpool and passed with flying colours.
Their only defeat in the last 29 matches came in the first leg against the Reds.
They haven’t tasted defeat since, including a routine weekend win over Angers that confirmed another Ligue 1 title with six games to spare.
Having picked up 23 wins from 28 games (D5), PSG are on course for an ‘invincible’ campaign.
They’re also still in the running for the Coupe de France, with a final against Stade Reims next month.
However, their immediate focus will be on Wednesday’s tricky contest against Villa in the French capital.
Villa’s resurgence under Emery’s leadership continues to gather pace as the Villans push for silverware both at home and abroad.
The Spanish manager was in charge of PSG from 2016 to 2018 and returned a Ligue 1 title and four domestic cups during his tenure in the French capital.
Now putting his expertise to work at Villa Park, Emery has the chance to end PSG’s Champions League title charge.
Renowned for his prowess in knockout football, Emery has won 10 trophies as a manager.
Most recently, he steered Villa back into the Champions League for the first time in over four decades.
His side sent shockwaves throughout the continent with a series of memorable performances that included a win over Bayern Munich that helped them punch their ticket to the last 16.
Villa then swept past Club Brugge with an astounding 6-1 aggregate victory in their first knockout clash.
Villa’s European progress came after a brief dip in Premier League form.
However, Emery’s side have bounced back strongly. Winter arrivals Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio, on loan from PSG, have added quality and energy to the squad.
Villa have won their last eight games in a row across all competitions, including a crucial 2-1 win against Nottingham Forest that put them firmly in the mix for Champions League qualification once again.
Their terrific form couldn’t have come at a better time, with a crunch Champions League clash and an FA Cup semi-final on the horizon.
Emery is just two wins away from ending Villa’s 29-year wait for a major domestic trophy and still has them rubbing shoulders with European powerhouses in the Champions League.
A win against PSG will be a massive statement of intent from the Villans, who are looking to end the season with at least one silverware in the bag.
Key Stats
PSG’s mission to finally secure a Champions League title continues as they prepare to face Villa in a first-ever meeting between the two clubs.
After falling to Borussia Dortmund in last season’s semi-finals and losing to Bayern in the 2020 final, PSG are determined – bordering on desperate – to lift the elusive trophy this time around.
The French giants have already faced three English teams this season – Arsenal, Manchester City, and Liverpool – and now meet a fourth in Emery’s Villa.
The Spaniard is no stranger to European competition, but his record against Luis Enrique is cause for concern, having won just two of his 10 meetings with his countryman.
Their most memorable clash came in 2017 when Enrique’s Barcelona famously overturned a four-goal deficit to eliminate Emery’s PSG with an incredible 6-1 win in the second leg.
As if that record is not enough blow to Villa’s chances, the Premier League side have yet to win a single European game in France.
They lost to Lille in the Europa Conference League last term and then to AS Monaco earlier this season.
Nevertheless, those records would hardly faze Emery, who has built his career on defying the odds, and fans will buy Champions League tickets from Seatsnet.com, hoping he can do so again.
Player to Watch
Marco Asensio
Asensio has taken little time to settle into life at Villa Park following his loan switch from PSG back in January.
The three-time Champions League winner scored three times during the last-16 tie with Club Brugge, all as a substitute.
His exploits came after failing to score in 10 Champions League games for PSG before he was frozen out of the squad by Enrique.
Another goal here may make him profoundly unpopular at Parc des Princes, but it would mean his best-ever return in a single Champions League campaign.
Team News
Lee Kang-in is the only PSG player missing through injury, but Emery wouldn’t be able to call on his captain Marquinhos on Wednesday night, with the Brazilian serving a suspension.
On Villa’s side, Leon Bailey is a doubt despite returning to full training, but Ross Barkley will certainly miss out on the trip to France.
Paris Saint-Germain potential starting line-up:
(4-3-3): Gianluigi Donnarumma; Achraf Hakimi, Lucas Beraldo, William Pacho, Nuno Mendes; Joao Neves, Vitinha, Fabian Ruiz; Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Ousmane Dembele, Bradley Barcola.
Aston Villa potential starting line-up:
(4-2-3-1): Emiliano Martinez; Matty Cash, Ezri Konsa, Tyrone Mings, Lucas Digne; Boubakar Kamara, Youri Tielemans; John McGinn, Marco Asensio, Morgan Rogers; Marcus Rashford.
