PSG playing Aston Villa in France is a match which is being hugely anticipated not only by supporters of both teams involved but also by neutrals.
The Ligue 1 side have looked truly excellent under Luis Enrique, and Unai Emery has done a great job at Villa and is returning to the Parc des Princes after an up and down time there.
Should one of the teams be able to get a good win tonight, just like Arsenal’s 3-0 victory over Real Madrid on Tuesday, then it will set them up brilliantly to make it to the semifinals of the Champions League.
There’s also the extra aspects to this match. Emiliano Martinez once again winding an entire country up is a possibility, and the Aston Villa goalkeeper appears to be in the mood for that.
Then there’s Emery’s return to Paris, and of course Marco Asensio, owned by PSG but available for Aston Villa tonight.
Not everyone is convinced, with one PSG fan suggesting to L’Equipe reporter Vincent Duluc that it’s all an attempt to sell the match, and that the French club should win easily.
In a Q&A session ahead of the match, the fan said too much of a fuss is being made and ‘if we’re a bit objective it should be 3-0 twice, whatever stories we want to spin to sell this double confrontation’.
Duluc was having none of that, and responded: ‘Twice 3-0? That seems a bit hasty and optimistic to me. When the French champion meets an English team that is on track to finish in the top four of the Premier League for the second season in a row, they can’t play the contempt card. And that wouldn’t fit in with the logic of this young team, which must rise to the occasion as much as its opponent.
