Aston Villa’s dream ends, but their fight against PSG will be remembered | OneFootball

Aston Villa showed great courage and resilience in their 3-2 victory over PSG in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg at Villa Park. This result was not enough to avoid elimination in regulation time due to the 5-4 aggregate score, but the historic result is written forever, with a victory that will be remembered for years to come.

Unai Emery's side tried to apply pressure from the start, while PSG relied on fast counter-attacks to set up plays. In the 11th minute, the Frenchmen's strategy worked for the first time, when Barcola accelerated down the left and left his marker, only for Dibu Martínez to miss, leaving the rebound for Hakimi.

Aston Villa FC v Paris Saint-Germain - UEFA Champions League 2024/25 Quarter Final Second Leg | Carl Recine/GettyImages

After Donnarumma began to show his mettle with some great saves, PSG took a 2-0 lead and looked to have wrapped up the match before the break. Nuno Mendes received the ball from Hakimi in another fatal move to score the second goal. Still, Aston Villa showed that they weren't giving up so easily and scored their first goal in the first half, when Tielemans received the ball on the edge of the box and had it deflected by Pacho.

Right at the start of the second half, McGinn advanced down the center and took advantage of some very lax marking to hit the ball from outside the area, only for it to deflect off Donnarumma, leaving the score at 2-2. Rashford (on a great night) almost turned the game around and only failed to score with a firm shot because of a sensational save by Donnarumma, but the PSG goalkeeper couldn't prevent Konsa from scoring to make it 3-2.

Aston Villa FC v Paris Saint-Germain - UEFA Champions League 2024/25 Quarter Final Second Leg | Catherine Ivill - AMA/GettyImages

Aston Villa piled on the chances to grab a fourth goal until the last minute, when Maatsen's left-footed drive took a sensational turn, but Pacho redeemed himself and blocked the shot to ensure PSG's qualification. Under deserved applause, Aston Villa's run in the Champions League 2024/25 came to an end.

Are PSG serious contenders for the Champions League title?

We'll elaborate on this shortly in a more detailed article, but PSG saw their title chances slashed considerably after a defensively fragile performance under emotional impact. Is this a team too young to take on the great responsibility of lifting a continental trophy? We'll see.