PSG 3-1 Aston Villa: Match report & 3 talking points as Parisians stake claim for European glory | OneFootball

Paris Saint-Germain are firm favourites to reach the Champions League semi-finals at the expense of Aston Villa following Wednesday night’s quarter-final first leg.

PSG had to come from behind on the night after Morgan Rogers handed Aston Villa a surprise lead. But three goals from Desire Doue, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Nuno Mendes without reply, means that Luis Enrique’s side hold a comfortable 3-1 aggregate lead.

The sides will reconvene in Birmingham next Tuesday for the second leg.

How the game unfolded

In their first European Cup quarter-final since losing, as holders, to Juventus in 1983, Villa were put under pressure from the opening kick-off.

Waves of early attacks spearheaded by the born-again Ousmane Dembele tested Villa’s resolve, with the Frenchman, willing to shoot on sight, stinging the palms of Emiliano Martinez seven minutes in. The visitors were soon hanging on, as Ezri Konsa blocked from roaming left-back Mendes and Martinez was on hand to smother as Achraf Hakimi got into position at a tight angle.

Midway through the first half, Vitinha curled an effort just over the bar, shortly followed by Villa’s first attempt of the game – a wildly off-target strike from distance by John McGinn.

And yet, it was Villa who dealt the first blow when Rogers, playing in the EFL Championship little more than a year ago, turned in from close-range. McGinn dispossessed Mendes in midfield, and from there it was a swift move that saw Marcus Rashford cleverly play in Youri Tielemans down the left, with the Belgian’s low cross inch-perfect for the unmarked Rogers at the far post.

It prompted an instant response from PSG, though, equalising through Doue four minutes later. There was nothing on for the teenage winger as he took the ball on the left flank, instead opting to bypass a crowded box altogether by cutting inside and guiding a shot into the top corner.

It didn’t take long in the second half for PSG to get ahead for the first time. Kvaratskhelia had given Matty Cash plenty of problems in the first 45 and the Villa right-back, on a yellow card, didn’t return to the pitch after the interval. But replacement Axel Disasi fared no better, turned inside out by the Georgian winger, before lashing the ball high into the net at the near post.

Although one-way traffic continued, Villa managed to stem the flow of chances until the ball was in the net a third time with just under 20 minutes left. But an offside flag against Hakimi ruled it out.

A comfortable save from Gianluigi Donnarumma to deny Rogers was a gentle reminder that Villa were still only a single goal behind, before PSG resumed control and Kvaratskhelia had a shot deflected wide and then a penalty appeal that fell on deaf ears.

The performance from the French giants deserved more than one-goal aggregate lead to take to England for the return leg and they eventually cranked open a more comfortable buffer in stoppage time. Mendes, partly culpable for Villa’s opener, got assist credit for Doue’s equaliser and wrapped up a rollercoaster night with a composed finish, dummying Martinez, from Dembele’s pass.

Check out the player ratings from PSG vs Aston Villa here.

PSG the team to beat

PSG could go all the way this season / Carl Recine/GettyImages

PSG may have struggled in the league phase, qualifying 15th out of 24 for the knockout stages, but it feels now like it will take an awful lot to step them from lifting a first ever European Cup.

Liverpool were made to look quite ordinary in the last 16 – somehow winning the first leg against the run of play, which is PSG’s only loss in their last 30 games. And, a breakaway Villa goal out of the blue aside, Luis Enrique’s team were far superior here as well.

The fact that a wildly inconsistent Arsenal still nursing key injuries likely await in the semi-finals, rather than Real Madrid, will only give PSG even more confidence of ultimately going all the way should they successfully see this tie through.

At last, greater than the sum of their parts

PSG are more of a team than they ever have been / Michael Steele/GettyImages

Since putting three living legends – Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe – in the same attacking trident didn’t work, PSG have changed strategy. It’s no longer about shoe-horning the biggest and most expensive names into the squad, but building a harmonious team that works as hard as it is talented. There is no slacking off or dereliction of duty, only graft that makes the good stuff possible.

Signing Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in January, a transfer window usually renowned for mid-season desperation and overinflation, was a stroke of genius. It’s largely a young squad too, with Ousmane Dembele and Achraf Hakimi, 27 and 26 respectively, among the elder statesmen.

Talismanic captain Marquinhos, somehow still just 30, was unavailable through suspension.

A whole new test for Villa

Too much of a challenge for Aston Villa / Michael Steele/GettyImages

Aston Villa had won seven games in a row prior to kick-off stretching back to February – Cardiff City, Club Brugge (twice), Brentford, Preston North End, Brighton & Hove Albion and Nottingham Forest.

They have even beaten Bayern Munich this season, but PSG are a level above.

Of course, the tie isn’t over just yet. Morgan Rogers was adamant straight after the final whistle in front of TNT Sports’ cameras that Villa have the “quality” to overturn the deficit. But that will require victory by three goals at Villa Park next week and it’s a very tall order.