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Email Scott | Premier League previews: Aston Villa
3 min: Hemmings is skittled by Zaire-Emery out on the left. The free kick’s hoisted into the PSG box, big Madjo competing for it. Hakimi clears.
2 min: PSG hog the ball in the very early stages. They are the European champions, after all. “Doesn’t this match already have a winner even before a ball is kicked?” asks krishnamoorthy v. “All hail Omar Artan! Uefa sticking a tongue out to Donald ‘catering truck’ Trump and showing a middle finger to Gianni ‘glued to the chair’ Infantino.”
PSG get the ball rolling. Or rather sailing, as they hoof it into the stand, rugby style, as is their wont. “I’m glad that Omar Artan will get a chance to do what he does best, after being denied entry to the GWC,” writes Peter Oh. “Never mind the ‘104 Super Bowls’, here comes the Super Cup!”
The teams are out! PSG in their first-choice blue and red, Villa in a very light blue that’s almost white, which, it says here, “pays rich tribute to the famous stadium’s Holte End, drawing inspiration from the iconic mosaic that greets loyal fans as they file into the stand.” We’ll be off in a minute!
It’s also a big night for the referee, who was royally stitched up by the Trump-Infantino Clown Collective at this summer’s World Cup. Here’s hoping 34-year-old Somali official Omar Artan enjoys the big showpiece he so richly deserves after being put through all that.
This is Europa League specialist Unai Emery’s fourth appearance at the Super Cup – he’s previously been a runner-up with Sevilla in 2014 and 2015 and Villarreal in 2021 – and ahead of it, he’s been talking to BT Sport. “Good evening … we are motivated and excited … we are playing the best team … we have some young players … but we are ready … the players are going to compete fantastically … we are playing for a trophy and our supporters … we are going to be 100 percent focused on this match … but we are trying to get ready, in our best moment, for the season.”
The view up above has been nearly as spectacular as PSG’s pennant. This here solar eclipse, you see. This is how beautiful the sky above Stadion Salzburg looked tonight …
… and here’s how the eclipse was safely viewed on the jumbo screen.
Say what you will about PSG’s funding model and its effect on continental competition: these guys always give good pennant. You have to give them that.
So how did we get here? Aston Villa fans won’t need reminding, not after their greatest night since Rotterdam ‘82 …
… while PSG retained their continental crown on an evening Arsenal fans would rather forget.
Aston Villa name two debutants in their XI. João Gomes, their £38m purchase from Wolves, starts in the centre of midfield, while 17-year-old Brian Madjo – at six feet four, officially a big unit – leads the line.
PSG also have a shiny new thing in their starting line-up: Maghnes Akliouche, a £43m buy from Monaco, prepares to cause havoc on the right wing. Lucas Digne, freshly arrived from Villa, sits in the dugout awaiting his debut. Bradley Barcola, coveted by both Liverpool and Arsenal, is also on the bench.
Paris Saint-Germain: Safonov, Marquinhos, Hakimi, Nuno Mendes, Pacho, Vitinha, Zaire-Emery, Neves, Kvaratskhelia, Akliouche, Doue.Subs: Chevalier, Digne, Hernandez, Zabarnyi, Lucas Beraldo, Fabian, Mayulu, Fernandez, Dembele, Barcola, Mbaye, Ndjantou.
Aston Villa: Bizot, Lindelof, Cash, Torres, Maatsen, McGinn, Buendia, Kamara, Joao Gomes, Hemmings, Madjo.Subs: Wright, Asemota, Mings, Rowe, Nedeljkovic, Modou Cisse, Barkley, Bogarde, Burrowes, Abraham, Edward, Lynch.
Referee: Omar Artan (Somalia).
Aston Villa already have the Super Cup on their roll of honour, of course. Gather round, dear children, and hear tell of a time in which FC Barcelona were less renowned for their Cruyffian devotion to the beautiful game, more interested in toe-punting whoever so much as looked at them all around the shop with great vim and vigour.
The modern-day artistes of Paris Saint-Germain are unlikely to resort to such base hoodlummery this evening. That said, they’ve already thrown a toddler’s tanty over the size of their dressing room, so let’s rule nothing out. Will the European champions put Villa to the sword, just as they did Spurs this time last year? Or will Unai Emery fill an odd gap on his personal resumé, finally converting Europa League glory into Super Cup success at the nth time of asking? We find out soon! Kick-off in Salzburg is at 8pm BST. It’s on!
