Ligue 1 club side Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) will host Aston Villa in the first leg of the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday.
Led by their coach Luis Enrique, PSG secured its fourth successive Ligue 1 title after its 1-0 victory against Angers, witnessing an unbeaten season in the league,
Retaining the title with six league matches remaining, PSG won a total of 23 games and drew five in its total 28 matches. This year, the club secured its 13th title in the Ligue 1.
The French team is undoubtedly in strong form this season, having lost just one match in their last 17 games.Meanwhile Aston Villa, has won all of its last seven games across different competitions.
The Unai Emery-led English team was a major surprise in the league phase of the champions league as it ended up in the eighth place with 16 points, thus qualifying directly for the round of 16 in the UEFA Champions League.
PSG, on the other hand had 13 points in total and ended up at the 15th position. This was due to their last three wins against RB Salzburg, Manchester City and Stuttgart. Thereafter, PSG met Brest in the playoffs winning 10-0 on aggregate
In the round of 16, PSG conceded a 1-0 defeat to Liverpool in the first leg. However, the team managed to win by the same score at Anfield in the second leg and later went through 4-1 on penalties. Aston Villa reached the quarter-finals after defeating Club Brugge 6-1 on aggregate in the previous round.
This match will be the first time that PSG and Aston Villa are playing against each other.
Aston Villa is heading to Paris as its Spanish head coach Unai Emery is making a comeback to France, where he served as the PSG manager between 2016 and 2018.
During the last season, PSG lost to Borussia Dortmund in the semifinals, while the side faced a defeat against Bayern Munich in 2019-20.
The first leg of the quarterfinal match between PSG and Aston Villa will be played at the Parc de Princes in France’s Paris on April 9.
PSG could end up winning the game 2-1 over Aston Villa, due to home advantage and brilliant form of some of its players.
(Editor: Paul Akhagbemhe)
