PSG's comeback against Villa shows desire in Champions League

PARIS -- Désiré Doué and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scored wonder goals to put Paris Saint-Germain on course for the UEFA Champions League semifinals as Luis Enrique's team fought back from a goal down to claim a 3-1 first-leg win against Aston Villa at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday.

With Morgan Rogers putting Villa ahead against the run of play on 35 minutes, the Premier League side threatened a major upset against the newly crowned Ligue 1 champions.

But Doué's long-range curling strike four minutes later leveled the score before Kvaratskhelia's solo goal on 49 minutes put PSG ahead.

The home side dominated the game and should have scored more, but with Nuno Mendes making it 3-1 in stoppage time, PSG will travel to Birmingham for next Tuesday's second leg as strong favorites to seal a place in the last four. -- Mark Ogden

Martínez suffers defeat and earache in Paris

Emiliano Martínez has enjoyed his wins against French teams for club and country in recent years -- and shoved those victories down the throats of his opponents with his provocative antics -- but he only tasted defeat in Paris.

The Aston Villa goalkeeper probably left the Parc des Princes with a bad bout of earache too due to the home loudly booing him whenever he touched the ball. Why? Because he is the footballer that French fans love to hate, and he stirred them up by wearing a baseball cap mocking France's 2022 World Cup final loss to Argentina on the flight to Paris.

But PSG and their fans had the last laugh on Martínez on this occasion by sealing a 3-1 win that included two sensational goals from Doué and Kvaratskhelia. Martínez could do nothing about either of those goals, which beat him with sheer brilliance, and he was also helpless when Mendes made it 3-1 to PSG in stoppage time.

That third goal could be the one that tips this tie out of Villa's reach because they now need to win by two goals at Villa Park next Tuesday just to take the tie to penalties. But if that happens, Martínez will be back in the role he knows best as the tormentor of the French.

If it goes to penalties, expect fireworks. -- Ogden

Magic from Doué and Kvara

There is not much in common between the goal-scorers Doué and Kvaratskhelia. One is French and from Rennes, the other one is from Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. One is 19 and the other is 24. One was a star in Italy when the other one was just trying to make a name for himself in Ligue 1.

But they certainly have the same love and talent for the beauty of dribbling. And they showed it again on Wednesday night with each of them scoring a stunning goal. Are you more of a fan of the curler in the top corner from Doué, or the little hook and powerful shot under the bar from a tight angle like Kvaratskhelia?

They made the Parc des Princes explode and the stubborn Villa defense explode too. PSG needed a bit of magic to win this game and take an advantage before the second leg. Their two wingers did the job in style. -- Julien Laurens

Villa have a right-back problem they can't solve

This was not a night to be an Aston Villa right-back, but the same will be the case when PSG visit Villa Park for the second leg of this quarterfinal tie next week.

Kvaratskhelia was in such hot form for PSG that it would have been a Herculean task for any of Villa's defenders to keep the former Napoli wideman quiet, but Matty Cash and Axel Disasi both fell well short of getting close to him. Cash started the game for Unai Emery's team, but from the early stages, the Poland international was targeted by PSG and Kvaratskhelia, and a first-half booking made his task even tougher.

So it was no surprise when Emery replaced Cash at half-time with Disasi due to the risk of another yellow card and Villa being reduced to 10 players. But within four minutes of entering the action, Disasi was turned inside out by Kvaratskhelia as he scored a stunning goal to put PSG 2-1 ahead in the Parc des Princes.

Both Cash and Disasi looked completely out of their depth, but one of them will likely start next Tuesday, and the same problems will arise whenever Kvaratskhelia gets the ball. Emery could switch centre-half Ezri Konsa to right-back, but that would leave Villa short in the middle of their defence. It's a big problem that doesn't have an obvious solution. -- Ogden

PSG's comeback desire shines again

Paris haven't been behind much this season, in Ligue 1 or in the Champions League. There are games where they couldn't come back, like away at Arsenal or against Bayern Munich. Then, there are the times when the young Parisians -- the youngest team left in the competition -- overturned a deficit. Against Manchester City, they were 2-0 down after 54 minutes, and they won 4-2. On Wednesday, they found themselves a goal down from very much against the run of play against Aston Villa.

But they never panicked, stayed sure of themselves, their qualities and their game. It was all about being patient against a team with 11 men behind the ball almost all of the time. "Trust yourselves and your qualities," is what Luis Enrique repeats to his players all the time. They did it again. They have real belief in their ability to beat any team and overcome any sort of adversity. -- Laurens

Luis Enrique wins tactical battle against Emery

This game was also a tactical battle between two brilliant Spanish managers. Luis Enrique had an incredible record against Emery and now even more so after yet another win. More importantly, there was only one team on the pitch. Despite opening the game on their only decent shot, Aston Villa were outplayed for most of the game. They couldn't cope with the PSG counter-pressing and the movement of their wingers.

Villa planned to play very narrow and double up wide, but they ran after the ball a lot, and Martínez had to make big saves. Paris were always going to try to isolate their wingers, but it's the inside runs of the two full-backs, Achraf Hakimi and Mendes, which caused Villa a lot of problems.

The Paris midfield bossed the game, and PSG made Villa run so much and suffer. Luis Enrique's plan worked perfectly again. -- Laurens

PSG fear Rashford, but Villa need to find him

Marcus Rashford has history with PSG having scored a late, late winner for Manchester United in a Champions League tie at Parc des Princes in 2019 and memories of that goal still haunt the French club judging by the boos and jeers the forward received whenever he had the ball.

The problem for Villa is that it wasn't often shown, and if they are to get through this tie, they need to utilise Rashford's pace much better at Villa Park in the second leg.

Rashford had a couple of bursts that caught out the PSG defence and his first-time pass to Youri Tielemans led to the midfielder crossing for Rogers to score Villa's first half goal. But in a 79-minute performance, Rashford managed just 29 touches, and he left the field with an xG and xA of 0.00. That lack of threat wasn't down to Rashford, though -- it was because his teammates couldn't get the ball to him.

Rashford has his shortcomings -- with one being his work rate -- but that couldn't be questioned in this game.

He simply cut a frustrated figure because he wasted too much energy making runs that weren't rewarded by his teammates. That has to change if Villa are to stay in the Champions League. -- Ogden