Key events
Marquinhos’s suspension means there are no thirtysomethings in the Paris Saint-Germain XI. No galacticos either. The players may be younger, but the team is all growns up
“I realise PSG may well hand out a good tonking tonight, but Villa’s bench is looking strong at least!” says Rob Knap. “Is it the strongest bench among the eight teams in the quarter finals? I’m not sure on what basis you can measure that really – so I suspect some people reading this who have seen a lot of, say, Hector Fort and Pablo Torre might disagree with that idea.”
It looked very strong when most of them started against Forest on Saturday – they were brilliant, especially in the first half.
Villa keeper Emi Martinez is warming up to a chorus of boos. I half expected him to come out in his Argentina 2022 goalkeeping jersey.
Tonight’s other game is a big one. Simon Burnton has all the build-up.
The players on a yellow card
Paris Saint-Germain Fabian Ruiz.
Aston Villa Lucas Digne, Boubacar Kamara, Marcus Rashford, Axel Disasi.
To say these are two form teams is an understatement. Villa have won their last seven games. PSG have won 16 of the last 17, and it would have been 17 but for Alisson having the game of his life.
Luis Enrique and Unai Emery were the managers when Barcelona overturned a 4-0 deficit to beat PSG in astonishing circumstances.
Marco Asensio starts on the bench. But he’ll surely be on at some stage, aiming to do unto his parent club as Fernando Morientes did unto Real Madrid in 2004.
Team news: Rashford starts ahead of Watkins
Marcus Rashford starts up front ahead of Ollie Watkins, a fascinating decision by Unai Emery. Watkins has looked slightly rusty since his return from a knee injury. The rest of the team is pretty much as expected: Emery rested a number of players against Nottingham Forest at the weekend but has returned to the XI that beat Brighton so handsomely a week ago.
Lucas Berardo replaces the PSG captain Marquinhos, who is suspended. That’s one of two changes from the side that won at Anfield. Desire Doue, who came off the bench to score the winning penalty, replaces Bradley Barcola.
Paris Saint-Germain (4-3-3) Donnarumma; Hakimi, Lucas Beraldo, Pacho, Nuno Mendes; Joao Neves, Vitinha, Fabian Ruiz; Doue, Dembele, Kvaratskhelia.
Substitutes: Safonov, Tenas, Kimpembe, Goncalo Ramos, Lee, L Hernandez, Mayulu, Barcola, Zaire-Emery, Mbaye.
Aston Villa (4-2-3-1) Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Pau Torres, Digne; Kamara, Tielemans; Rogers, McGinn, Ramsey; Rashford.
Substitutes: Olsen, Proctor, Mings, Disasi, Maatsen, Bogarde, Onana, Barkley, Asensio, Watkins.
Referee Maurizio Mariani (Italy).
Preamble
Six years ago tomorrow, ten-man Aston Villa came from behind to win 2-1 at Rotherham and move up to fifth in the Championship. Jack Grealish scored the winner, Tyrone Mings was sent off and, in the words of the Villa manager Dean Smith, “John McGinn was so good I thought there were two of him”. In the same week, Thomas Tuchel’s Paris Saint-Germain moved 20 points clear at the top of Ligue 1, with a game in hand.
Mings, McGinn and millions of Villa fans have had a helluva ride since then, particularly since Unai Emery came to the club in 2022, and tonight they will play PSG in the last eight of Europe’s greatest competition.
In historical terms it feels almost surreal – this is Villa’s first European Cup quarter-final since 1983 – but they are here entirely on merit. Emery has built an outstanding squad, never mind team, who have shown they can beat Europe’s finest. In the last year alone they’ve taken care of Arsenal, Manchester City and Bayern Munich among others; they are perfectly cast as the dangerous outsiders of this year’s competition.
Emery’s return to PSG, where he was manager from 2016-18, adds another layer of fascination to this game – as does Marco Asensio’s likely appearance against his parent club. Then there’s PSG’s newfound maturity; their performances against Liverpool in the previous round earned the instant and unequivocal respect of those who previously regarded PSG as a bit of a joke.
They are still unbeaten domestically and have just sealed the Ligue 1 title with six games to spare. Europe was trickier at first – PSG had only four points after five games of the league stage, but an exhilarating comeback against Manchester City was the catalyst for their emergence as serious contenders – favourites in fact – to win the competition.
If all that wasn’t enough to whet the appetite, Emi Martinez has brought his special baseball cap to Paris. This could be all sorts of fun.
Kick off 8pm.
