Key events
46 min PSG get the second half under way.
Villa are making a half-time substitution Axel Disasi is replacing Matty Cash, who was booked in the first half.
Half-time reading
Half time: Paris Saint-Germain 1-1 Aston Villa
A pulsating first half in Paris. Villa survived a 35-minute storm and then stole the lead when Morgan Rogers finished off a ruthless transition. PSG didn’t blink and were level four minutes later when the teenager Desire Doue curled a glorious shot in off the crossbar.
45+1 min: Brilliant skill from Doue! Villa try to break but PSG are all over them and win the ball back in seconds. Doue, [insert age here], loses his man with a beautiful roulette, surges into the area and has a shot that is desperately blocked. He’s been sensational.
45 min PSG are so good to watch, both with and without the ball.
44 min: Good effort from Doue! This kid is scary. He receives a short corner on the left and hits a vicious shot from a tight angle that knocks Martinez off his feet as he pushes it away. Villa can’t clear properly and Doue wafts a left-foot shot over the bar. Not much of a chance.
43 min “How about Alan Taylor unleashing his inner J Greaves Esq and scoring two goals in the quarters, two goals in the semis and two goals in the final, FA Cup 1975?” asks Rob Lewis.
42 min Rashford scorches away from Lucas Berardo on the left, gets inside the area and pokes the ball across. It’s cleared by a PSG defender but that was a really promising burst from Rashford.
40 min Just before that goal, Martinez fumbled Doue’s low shot onto the post and had to scramble the ball desperately off the line. It would have been a desperate howler because it was a routine low shot from Doue. But Martinez did react excellently to his original mistake.
Nothing looked on when Doue received a simple pass from Mendes on the left wing. He moved inside, away from a slightly woolly challenge from Rogers, and struck a booming curler that beat Martinez, hit the underside of the bar and bounced into the net. What a sensational goal!
GOAL! Paris Saint-Germain 1-1 Aston Villa (Doue 39)
Desire Doue, 19, equalises with a wonderful goal!
36 min Two years ago tomorrow, Morgan Rogers played for Blackpool in a 3-1 defeat at Luton.
What a moment for Aston Villa! McGinn won the ball off Mendes near the halfway line and Villa were ahead within seconds. McGinn swept the ball across the field to Rashford, who played a smart early pass to the onrushing Tielemans in the inside-left channel. He screwed a perfect low cross, bisecting Donnarumma and the PSG defence, and Rogers arrived at the far post to score from six yards. That’s a superb goal!
GOAL! Paris Saint-Germain 0-1 Aston Villa (Rogers 35)
Correction: Morgan Rogers had struggled to get on the ball.
32 min For all PSG’s possession – 77 per cent last time I checked – they are yet to create a really clear chance. In that sense Villa are doing well but Unai Emery will want them to have more threat in attack. Ramsey and Rogers have struggled to get on the ball.
31 min “Hello Rob,” says Krishnamoorthy V. “Two in-form teams. Two managers who have been shunned by better clubs and now proving their worth (as if with a vengeance). Former rivalries to add an additional layer. Two of the best goalkeepers of the world today and a Bigger Cup QF. Head says PSG , heart says Villa.”
29 min “One that always springs to mind is Lilian Thuram unleashing his inner Batistuta and scoring twice against Croatia in the 1998 World Cup semi-final,” says Jason Geer. “Two wonderful goals, and the only two he ever scored for France.”
Even my inner pedant loves that example.
27 min An elegant chip from Fabian Ruiz finds Nuno Mendes on the left side of the area. He takes a quick touch and hits a cross-shot that deflects behind off Kamara. It’s one-way traffic.
26 min “Even without a post-match award,” begins Andy Gordon, “I can imagine Emi Martinez producing a Made Argentine Great Again cap for the local fans.”
25 min John McGinn shoots from about 40 yards. You can probably deduce the rest.
24 min Ramsey was caught on the knee by Fabian Ruiz but he’d started to slip just before the contact was made. Either way there’s a break in play while he receives treatment; he’s okay to continue.
23 min PSG are pressing ferociously whenever Villa have the ball. Kvaratskhelia is a bit too keen and fouls Ramsey, but moments later Ramsey slips on the ball in the centre circle and PSG break. Dembele plays a one-two and lays the ball back to the unmarked Vitinha on the edge of the D. He takes a touch and whips a curler that goes a few yards over the bar. Nice effort but Martinez had it covered.
21 min PSG continue hammering on the door. The biggest positive for Villa so far is that Emi Martinez has radiated certainty. Villa need him at his best tonight.
19 min “The most unexpected haunting of a footballer I can recall was United’s Irish defender John O’Shea suddenly becoming Eric Cantona against Arsenal in 2005,” says Justin Kavanagh. “The Gaul of the man.”
Are you deliberately goading my inner pedant? I thought Player X needed to resemble Player Y more than once in the same game to qualify. But as you’ve referenced one of the all-time great games, I’ll let you off. The inner pedant might not.
17 min Cash pulls back Kvaratskhelia and is booked. He’s not happy but Kvaratskhelia was goalside, even if the contact was relatively soft. Kvaratskheliva had nicked the ball after a heavy touch from Konsa and was heading towards the area.
16 min “At the Arsenal in the 80s,” begins Alan Baverstock, “we waited and waited for Charlie Nicholas to unleash his inner Charlie Nicholas and finally gave up.”
You’ll always have Wembley 1987, even if there was nothing Charlie Nicholas about either goal.
15 min Another good save from Martinez, who flies out to the left side of his area to block Hakimi’s shot on the run. The angle was very tight, with Hakimi running onto a long crossfield pass, and Martinez was on him in a flash.
13 min Tielemans’ long free-kick is flapped away unconvincingly by Donnarumma, who is out of the game when Rashford (I think) lofts the loose ball back in the middle. It’s won in the air by a PSG defender and the danger is cleared.
12 min Villa are struggling to cross the halfway line. This is where they could miss Ollie Watkins, whose movement in behind is better than Rashford’s. But Rashford does well to hold the ball up and find McGinn, who is fouled just past the aforementioned halfway line. A much-needed breather for the Villa defence.
11 min “In response to Phil Podolsky’s thought-provoking question,” says Brian Russell, “my favourite footballer X masquerading as footballer Y is Owls legend Paul Warhurst who in 1993 was possessed by the spirit of Pele and scored 12 goals in 12 games.”
I wondered about him. The joyless pedant that lives in my head wouldn’t allow him because I thought Phil was referring to a single performance rather than a run of games. Truly: it’s not you, it’s my stupid subconcscious.
10 min Kvaratskhelia twists Cash’s blood and crosses to the near post, where Mendes’s shot is blocked by Konsa. It’s all PSG just now.
8 min: Superb save by Martinez! Kvaratskhelia is half-tripped by Kamara in the area. He falls to his knees but springs straight to his feet and has a shot that is blocked. The rebound is sizzled towards the top corner by Dembele and tipped over acrobatically by Martinez.
There’s a VAR check on the penalty but the original decision stands. Hmm, I’d like to see that again.
6 min “I’m not a Villa fan but I do want to see them get a result here,” says Peter Oh. “However, if they manage a clean sheet and Emi Martinez picks up a player-of-the-match award, I sure hope that the trophy does not remotely resemble a bodily appendage.”
5 min Dembele touches the ball back to Vitinha, whose low shot from the edge of the area is held to his right by Martinez. PSG have started impressively.
3 min The referee is already having a word with Martinez, possibly about timewasting. When Martinez lumps a pass straight out of play the crowd cheer with gleeful disdain.
3 min Doue teases Tielemans before poking a lovely pass into unmarked Dembele. He takes the shot on from 25 yards but slips and launches it into orbit.
2 min As expected, Villa have started with Morgan Rogers on the right and McGinn playing off Marcus Rashford.
1 min Peep peep! Villa kick off to a chorus of boos, which gets even louder when the ball goes straight back to Emi Martinez.
“Apropos of Declan Rice unleashing his inner Ronald Koeman, what are your favourite footballer X unleashed his inner Y performances?” asks Phil Podolsky. “Mine is when Ronny Rosenthal became possessed by Rivaldo that one time against Southampton.”
That’s a great question, and a great theme for a Joy of Six. Let me think. I fondly recall Eric Cantona clearing off the line in open play in the 1996 FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea, but he only did it once so I don’t suppose it qualifies as him unleashing his inner Terry Butcher.
A reminder of the teams
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).
“I’ll be rooting for Villa tonight, not just because I’m a diehard royalist and totally love Prince William they have Super John McGinn in their starting XI,” says Simon McMahon. “There’s something quite heartwarming about the re-emergence of both Villa and Forest, and indeed other so called ‘provincial’ clubs, this season, that gives me hope that football is not a lost cause. You can call me naïve if you like, but there’s worth things to be called.”
Prince William is at the Parc des Princes and is currently being interviewed by TNT Sports on Rio Ferdinand and Ally McCoist. He’s very confident about Villa’s chances, particularly with Lucas Paqueta and Jarrod Bowen in such great form.
(I jest – he clearly knows his stuff and it was an extremely enjoyable interview.)
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
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Paris Saint-Germain Fabian Ruiz.
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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.
