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That’s all for tonight. Thanks for your company and emails; and if you haven’t seen Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s goal, seek it out this instant. Goodnight.
It was difficult. They’re a really good team, really well-organised with stars all over the pitch. We’ve got another leg to turn it round – we’ll give everything and see where it takes us.
We wanted to come here and compete and I felt we did that for the most part. We want to score goals and we’ve got enough quality to give any team in the world problems. We did that at times tonight, although we’d like to have done it a bit more.
Now we’re going back to Villa Park. We’ve got nothing to lose – nobody expected us to win the tie in the first place so why not go for it? We’ve definitely got the quality to turn this round. It’s not done yet.
Morgan Rogers gave Villa the lead with an excellent team goal. But that only served to make PSG even more dangerous. Desire Doue curled a brilliant equaliser, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scored an orgiastic second goal and the left-back Nuno Mendes finished like Romario in injury-time.
PSG’s attacking quality is terrifying – and in some ways they’re even scarier when they didn’t have the ball. Villa were suffocated throughout and spent most of the game in their own half. Never mind the year 2025: few teams in the history of football could have lived with PSG tonight.
Yeah, I’m probably getting carried away. But – Villa fans excepted, obviously – if that performance doesn’t reignite your love of football, you should seek urgent medical assistance.
Nuno Mendes’s late goal feels like a killer blow. There’s no shame in this defeat for Villa. They gave everything but were overwhelmed by a team who – right here, right now – are surely the best in the world. They are also incredibly good to watch.
Boubacar Kamara (centre) and his Aston Villa teammates look dejected after the final whistle of their 3-1 defeat to PSG. Photograph: Christian Hartmann/Reuters
Almost a fourth with the last kick of the game, a wobbling long-range shot from Zaire-Emery that is fingertipped acrobatically over the bar by Martinez. Luis Enrique punches the air in celebration at the final whistle: his young Paris Saint-Germain team were simply awesome.
Nuno Mendes has shattered Villa with another superb goal. Dembele wandered infield and poked a lovely through pass towards Mendes, who timed his run perfectly into the area. Mendes shaped to shoot, dummying both Konsa and Martinez, then chopped onto his right foot and lifted the ball gleefully into the net.
Paris St Germain’s Nuno Mendes rubs salt into Aston Villa’s wounds. Photograph: Christophe Petit-Tesson/EPA
Aston Villa’s keeper Emi Martinez (left) looks crestfallen. Photograph: Bertrand Guay/AFP/Getty Images
Whilst Mendes (right) and Ousmane Dembele look overjoyed. Photograph: Jason Cairnduff/Action Images/Reuters
Devastating, and thoroughly deserved.
90+1 min Rogers, on the edge of the area, shoots over on the turn. A decent effort but always rising.
89 min Pau Torres charges across his area to block a stinging shot from Zaire-Emery. The opportunity came from superb play by Barcola, who kept the ball in play at the byline and reversed a pass to Zaire-Emery.
88 min “Enrique’s PSG resembles the 2009 Barcelona, down to having three different but complimentary forwards and a rampaging full back for width,” says Kári Tulinius. “But the crucial difference is that there’s no Xaviesta. This side doesn’t rest with the ball or build from deep, but gets the ball quickly into the attacking third. And they tend to shoot quickly, not settling for sterile domination.”
87 min Villa win a throw-in deep in PSG’s half, allowing them to load the box for a long one from Digne. He hurls it in and Onana’s backheader hits the side netting;. Donnarumma had it covered.
Close but no cigar for Aston Villa’s Amadou Onana. Photograph: Aurélien Morissard/AP
84 min PSG continue to probe, trying to take advantage of the mental and physical fatigue they have caused in the Villa defenders. I’m conscious of recency bias but this might be the most impressive PSG team we’ve ever seen, with the emphasis on the T-word.
81 min PSG have had 26 attempts at goal to Villa’s four.
Make that 26-5: Asensio’s shot from 20 yards deflects wide after a powerful run by Onana.
80 min: Triple substitution for Villa Amadou Onana, Ollie Watkins and Ian Maatsen replace Marcus Rashford, Youri Tielemans and John McGinn.
79 min The corner is taken short and worked infield to Vitinha, who throttles a drive well wide from 25 yards.
78 min The tireless McGinn tracks Hakimi to concede yet another corner. The pressure from PSG has been relentless.
77 min Kvaratskhelia, who has moved to the right since the arrival of Barcola, appeals unsuccessfully for a penalty when Pau Torres gets between him and the ball in the area. Nothing doing.
77 min “Am taking you on the continent, back to 1 May 2001, when Milan managed to win 6-0 in the derby against Inter,” begins Giovanni Cafagna. “A young guy called Gianni Comandini unleashed his inner Paolo Rossi and scored two magnificent goals. He played only one season and never scored again for Milan.
“Exactly like the great Paolo Rossi, Golden Boot winner at the 1982 World Cup. On 1 December 1985 unleashed his inner…Paolo Rossi and scored 2 goals for Milan against Inter. He also played only one more season in the red and black shirt and never scored again.”
76 min Kvaratskhelia’s stinger from 25 yards hits the backside of Pau Torres and goes behind for yet another corner.
74 min A clever scoop from Rogers almost reaches Kamara in the area. He waved a foot at it but was ushered away from the ball by Pacho.
72 min McGinn wins the ball high up the field and gives it to Rogers, 22 yards from goal. He considers his options before hitting a hopeful shot that is held by Donnarumma, failing to his left. A comfortable save.
72 min: Double substitution for PSG Warren Zaire-Emery and Bradley Barcola replace Fabian Ruiz and Desire Doue.
71 min: DISALLOWED GOAL! Hakimi nutmegs Martinez from a ridiculous angle but the flag goes up for offside. He was a yard or so ahead of the last defender.
Think you were offside a wee bit more than that! Photograph: Stéphanie Lecocq/Reuters
70 min Villa are hanging on desperately to their 2-1 deficit. They’ve done pretty well in the last 10 minutes or so because most teams would have been overwhelmed.
69 min Rashford cuts into the area from the left, runs into Hakimi and goes over. No penalty. I don’t think it was a dive but nor was it a foul.
66 min Beraldo’s daisycutter from distance is saved comfortably by Martinez. That one fumble aside, Martinez has been excellent.
65 min Villa are defending almost constantly. It’s not through choice, they just cannot get out. This scoreline would be excellent for Villa, particularly after such a torrid night, but it’s hard to see PSG not getting at least one more.
64 min “All of a sudden,” says Gary Naylor, “Pepball looks passe.”
Isn’t this what Pepball was like in the 2010s? The pressing certainly.
62 min The resulting corner is flicked on and saved comfortably by Martinez.
61 min: PSG penalty appeal Kvaratskhelia finds the underlapping Mendes, who twists back inside the sliding Kamara near the byline. The ball hits his hand and PSG appeal frantically for a penalty. It’s not given on the field or by VAR.
59 min: Villa substitution Marco Asensio, playing against his parent club, replaces Jacob Ramsey.
58 min: Superb save by Martinez! Kvaratskhelia, on the edge of his own area, controls a dropping ball. nutmegs McGinn majestically and guides a beautiful pass down the left to Doue. He makes ground and squares the ball to Fabian Ruiz on the edge of the area. Fabian Ruiz dummies it for Hakimi, whose swept shot is brilliantly saved to his right by Martinez.
Moments later, Doue wriggles into the area and has a shot blocked by Konsa. PSG have been quite sensational.
57 min “I have to say there was something joyful about the sight of Prince William appearing to lose himself when the camera cut to him celebrating just after the Villa goal,” writes Brad McMillan. “Without wishing to dwell on the happiness of someone in his position for too long, he can’t experience moments like that too often. George still has a bit of work to do, mind.”
55 min Villa finally get through the press, with Ramsey finding Rashford on the left. He tries to run at two defenders and is dispossessed. PSG counter the counter and Dembele plays a superb cutback to pick out Kvaratskhelia on the edge of the area. He wallops a first-time shot that hits Disasi and ricochets behind. That was certainly on target and might have beaten Martinez because it came right off the sweet spot of Kvaratskhelia’s right boot. Mind you, on the evidence of the last few years his entire right boot is one big sweet spot.
54 min “If (as looks increasingly likely) Liverpool don’t end up winning the Champions League, I’d love to see Villa do something special,” says our resident philanthropist, Matt Dony. “PSG are the best team I’ve watched this year, and it’s not exactly a Hot Take to suggest they’re favourites, but stranger things have happened! Then, next year, maybe Forest. After that, who knows? Everton reliving 1985? Fulham writing a glorious new chapter? Brentford putting themselves on the European map? Spurs atoning for… actually, no. Imagination can only stretch so far.”
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