Aston Villa bowed out of the UEFA Champions League at the quarter-final stage 5-4 on aggregate, despite recovering from 2-0 down to beat Paris Saint-Germain 3-2 on the night.
Having endured a PSG onslaught during last week’s first leg in Paris, Unai Emery’s side more than went toe-to-toe with his former club at Villa Park, out-shooting them by 17 attempts to 14 and becoming the first team this season to put three goals past the newly crowned French champions in a single match.
Ultimately, however, Villa’s fate was sealed with barely a quarter of the game gone, as PSG pounced in clinical fashion with two devastating counter-attacks.
Within seconds of Marcus Rashford losing possession following a poor touch on the edge of the PSG box, the visitors were ahead on the night, Achraf Hakimi smashing the loose ball home after Emiliano Martinez’s uncharacteristically hesitant attempt to deal with Bradley Barcola’s low cross.
And it seemed all over for Villa just before the half-hour mark. The sensational Nuno Mendes, whose stoppage-time strike gave PSG their two-goal first-leg cushion, produced an exquisite finish to round off another fast break and make it a full-house of PSG full-backs on the scoresheet, as Luis Enrique’s men took full advantage of Villa’s disorganised press.
Youri Tielemans’ heavily deflected effort after 34 minutes reduced the deficit, but Villa’s task remained a monumental one: to salvage the tie, they would have to equal their highest home goals output of the season and score four against one of the best teams in Europe right now.
That so nearly happened. John McGinn raised the volume at Villa Park some more by thumping one in from range after a powerful surge through midfield after 55 minutes.
Then two minutes later, Rashford, whose renaissance on loan from Manchester United continued here, masterfully beat two PSG players to square for Ezri Konsa, whose crisp side-footed finish would have been the pride of any centre-forward, never mind a centre-back.
If not for a string of fine saves from Gianluigi Donnarumma and Konsa somehow completely missing a free header from six yards out from a brilliant Rashford free-kick, Villa could easily have been on terms with plenty of time to spare.
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- Youri Tielemans gives Villa hope with a first-half strike
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- John McGinn scores Villa’s second goal to equalise on the night
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- Ezri Konsa fires home Villa’s third to set up a grandstand finish
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- Ezri Konsa steers a late header agonisingly wide
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- Unai Emery sinks to his knees and Austin MacPhee reacts at the missed chance
But once Ian Maatsen’s sweetly struck volley at the death was brilliantly blocked on the line by Willian Pacho, it was clear that was that. It wasn’t quite to be Villa’s night, but it was to be the night that they well and truly confirmed they belong at Europe’s top table.
The challenge now, with six matches remaining, is to finish in the top five of the Premier League in order to secure a spot in next season’s Champions League.
Currently sitting seventh, Villa are in rampant form – it’s now nine wins in 10 matches in all competitions – and they face two of the three teams immediately above them next: Newcastle United at home on Saturday, followed by Manchester City away next Tuesday.
Villa’s next five PL matches
PSG will play the winner of Arsenal v Real Madrid in the semi-finals. And if Arsenal, who hold a 3-0 lead over Madrid after the first leg, advance, they can turn to Villa’s proactive and intense performance tonight for the perfect case study of how to hurt the French side.
The first legs of the semi-finals will be played on 29/30 April, with the second legs taking place on 6/7 May.
