Aston Villa welcome Paris Saint-Germain to Villa Park on Tuesday night, aiming to overturn a 3-1 first-leg Champions League quarter-final deficit. The stakes are enormous: a place in the semi-finals to face either Arsenal or Real Madrid.
Villa stunned the Parc des Princes last week, taking the lead through Morgan Rogers, sending their traveling fans — and even Prince William — into celebration. However, PSG’s attacking brilliance soon showed. Desire Doue equalized, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia put the hosts ahead, and Nuno Mendes’ injury-time strike left Villa with a mountain to climb in the second leg. The 3-1 scoreline means Unai Emery’s men must score at least twice to have any hope of going through.
Aston Villa’s home form is formidable: unbeaten in 17 matches at Villa Park across all competitions, including a 1-0 win over Bayern Munich in the previous round. They bounced back from last week’s setback in Paris with a 3-0 Premier League win over Southampton, keeping their top-five ambitions alive while resting key players.
PSG, meanwhile, are in imperious form, unbeaten in 29 of their last 30 games and fresh from a weekend off, giving them extra time to prepare. Their attack, led by Kvaratskhelia, Ousmane Dembélé, and the in-form Doue, has been devastating, and they have already ended a four-game losing streak in England with a recent win at Liverpool.
– Villa are unbeaten in five Champions League home games this season.
– PSG have won just four of 17 away games against English opposition in Europe.
– The Opta supercomputer gives Villa just an 8.5% chance of progressing.
– PSG have been eliminated from three of their last seven Champions League ties when leading by two or more goals after the first leg.
Prediction
Aston Villa’s resilience at home gives them hope. However, PSG’s attacking quality and experience make them favourites to progress. Expect Villa to push hard and possibly win on the night, but PSG’s aggregate advantage should see them through—most predictions point to a draw or narrow Villa win, with PSG advancing to the semi-finals.
Kick-off 8pm.
