Aston Villa are set to face PSG in Paris in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.
The Parisian outfit have been touted by some as favourites to win the Champions League after knocking out Liverpool in the previous round. Aston Villa are a humble, middle-class Premiership side looking to work their way to the very top.
Under Unai Emery’s leadership, the club have moved from relegation contenders to challengers both domestically and in Europe. In October, they beat Bayern Munich in an intense encounter in their first game back in Europe’s elite competition after 41 years. Not everything has gone the way they would have liked since then, but new signings Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio have rejuvenated the squad, the latter scoring both home and away as they comfortably dispatched Club Brugge in their round-of-16 encounter.
But of course PSG will be a whole different test. The Ligue 1 side are in superb form, having secured their domestic title last week with an unbeaten run of 28 games. With that competition wrapped up, Luis Enrique and his players will be looking to throw the Champions League trophy into the bag as well.
There is some further intrigue. Aston Villa’s Marco Asensio, on loan from PSG, has been cleared to play against his parent club. Unai Emery will also be facing off against Luis Enrique for the first time since dramatically losing 6-1 against Barcelona in 2017, having won the first leg of that tie 4-0.
Villa will need to keep an eye on the Premier League, however, where although the title seems decided, the race for the Champions League spots is still red-hot.
England – being top of the UEFA season association coefficient rankings – is expected to get five Champions League spots for next season. With Liverpool and Arsenal having all but claimed two of the five, five teams (Nottingham Forest, Chelsea, Newcastle, Manchester City and Aston Villa) are in contention for the remaining three. If Villa continue their good form, they stand a good chance of claiming one of those.
