Paris Saint-Germain host Aston Villa in the quarter-finals of the Champions League with the first leg of their tie being played at the Parc des Princes tonight.
PSG are in fine form having already secured the Ligue 1 title. That allows them to focus all their efforts of claiming a first Champions League title and Aston Villa will need to be wary of their quality.
Luis Enrique’s side defeated Liverpool in a penalty shootout in the previous round and have only failed to win once in their previous 17 matches across all competitions – a 1-0 loss to Liverpool at home in the last-16 first leg.
Villa, meanwhile, are on a seven-game winning run including beating Club Brugge 6-1 on aggregate in the previous round. Unai Emery’s men come into the match on the back of a 2-1 victory over Nottingham Forest and will have their sights set on a historic win tonight.
Follow all the Champions League action with our live blog below:
PSG line-up to face Villa
PSG XI: Donnarumma; Hakimi, Lucas Beralod, Pacho, Nuno Mendes; Joao Neves, Vitinha, Fabian Ruis; Doue, Dembele, Kvaratskhelia
Aston Villa line-up to face PSG
Aston Villa XI: Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne; McGinn, Kamara, Tielemans; Ramsey, Rogers, Rashford
Emery on Martinez
“He is mature, he is responsible, he is getting better at controlling his emotions,” Unai Emery said when asked about Emiliano Martinez and his antics.
“When he arrived at Aston Villa five or six years ago and now it is different.
“He is more mature, he is a better player and goalkeeper. Now my conversation with him is always the same: ‘Focus on football and your individual challenge and you have and try to control the emotion it is bringing to you’.
“Of course Emiliano Martinez is a very important player for us, he is one of the best players in the world, the best goalkeeper in the world, he got the award for it in Paris.
“Football is to understand the supporters, to understand how you are helping your team. Every player, coaches, supporters, we have to try and understand to be respectful.”
Martinez stirs up tension with France
He is expected to receive a hostile reception when Aston Villa face PSG in the Parc des Princes – and arrived in Paris wearing a baseball cap with an emblem of the World Cup, two Copa Americas and the Finalissima covering the French cockerel.
Emiliano Martinez stirs up tension with France with message to PSG fans
Martinez was dubbed a “specialist in provocation” by French newspaper L’Equipe following the goalkeeper’s antics in Argentina’s victory over Les Blues in the 2022 World Cup final.
‘The recognition of Aston Villa is massive’
“Aston Villa is an historic club in the world. They won the European Cup in 1982 and it’s something very special in football – the recognition of Aston Villa is massive,” Emery said in yesterday’s press conference.
He added: “When I arrived here two and a half years ago, I knew this history. The challenge in that moment was to be a contender for trophies, to play in Europe again and to play in the Champions League, which would be amazing.
“To keep it consistently is the next challenge. To be playing in Paris in the Champions League quarter-final is something really special and amazing for the everybody involved with Aston Villa, but we want to be consistently doing it.”
Emery on returning to PSG
Aston Villa’s head coach, Unai Emery, spent two years at PSG between 2016-18 and is returning to the Parc de Princes to face his old club tonight.
“I spent two years here and I’m always thankful for the experiences I had,” he said.
“Everything I did before is in my past and helped transform me into the coach I am now.
“I’m feeling good, it’s the first time I’m coming back here in Paris and the Parc de Princes. It’s something special for me.
“I’m very proud of how I am coming back here, playing in the Champions League with Aston Villa and trying to enjoy this quarter-final.”
PSG end run of defeats to English teams
PSG eliminated Liverpool in the last 16 of this season’s Champions League.
They exited the competition in each of their last three knockout stage meetings with English sides.
Those defeats coming against: Man City in 2015-16 and 2020-21, and Man Utd in 2018-19.
‘We’ve adapted to the competition’
Tielemans als explained how Villa have grown into the competition and taken lessons from playing against big name opponents like Bayern Munich in the league phase.
He said: “We have players with experience, and you can see that in how we’ve performed against some of the biggest teams.
“Our results have been really good, along with the way we’ve adapted ourselves to this competition. The main thing is our mentality and focus going into games, knowing that we can do something here.
“We’re always ready and prepared.”
‘We have confidence’
Youri Tielemans says that Unai Emery has instilled a sense of confidence into Aston Villa’s players and that they’ll be ready for tonight’s match.
Speaking at yesterday’s press conference the midfielder said: “We have a lot of confidence. Our coach knows what it is like to be at this stage of this competition, and we are all ready for tomorrow.
“Fighting for trophies is our ambition and we are prepared to end the season strongly.”