Wednesday evening sees Paris Saint-Germain and Aston Villa battle for the first chance of silverware this season, as they contest the UEFA Super Cup at the Red Bull Arena in Salzburg.
PSG could become only the fourth team to retain the trophy with a victory, after beating Tottenham Hotspur on penalties in the previous edition.
PSG looking to create history
If they were to overcome the Villans, they would emulate Ajax (1973, 1974), AC Milan (1989, 1990) and Real Madrid (2016, 2017).
Luis Enrique has won both previous Super Cup finals he’s taken part in, whilst Unai Emery has lost all three he’s been involved with, but as Spurs showed for 85 minutes of their game against the French giants, PSG aren’t infallible.
Back in 2015, Barcelona played Sevilla for the trophy, and the game produced a thrilling nine-goal game, which Luis Enrique’s Catalans edged… against Emery’s Andalusians.
If both managers take the view that some more gung-ho entertainment is in store, supporters will be in for a treat.
A much-changed Villa
PSG will be the pre-game favourites, of course, getting to the final by having won the Champions League via a penalty shoot-out against a brilliant Arsenal team.
They’ve also scored in every game played since a defeat to Paris FC back in January, and that 28-game sequence is their longest since 2019/20 when they were able to find the net in 36 consecutive matches.
Villa eased to the Europa League title, thanks to a commanding performance against Freiburg, but since then, the club have lost two of their best players in Morgan Rogers and Youri Tielemans, who have gone to Chelsea and Man Utd. respectively.
Emery will undoubtedly give minutes to his new signings, Alejandro Garnacho and Joao Gomes, though another recent capture, Johan Manzambi, is still recovering from a knee injury sustained in the World Cup and won’t play any part in this game.
Penalties expected?
PSG have lost the two scorers in last season’s final, Lee Kang-in and Goncalo Ramos, who have moved on to Atletico Madrid and AC Milan, but they too will have new signings on show in Maghnes Akliouche and ex-Villa man Lucas Digne.
Interestingly, five of the last six Super Cup finals that have involved an English side have gone to penalties, but Villa will have to reverse recent history in this fixture if they want to get their hands on the trophy.
That’s because in 12 of the last 13 editions, it’s the Champions League holders who have gone on to win the Super Cup, with the only exception being when Atletico Madrid triumphed over city rivals Real 4-2 back in 2018.
When PSG last met Villa, in the 2024/25 Champions League, it was the French side who were triumphant by a 5-4 aggregate scoreline over two legs.
A 3-1 win for PSG in Paris was followed by a 3-2 loss at Villa Park in another epic Enrique v Emery battle that was one for the purists to enjoy.
Goals guaranteed
Perhaps the greatest ever ties between the two managers came when Emery was in charge of PSG, and his counterpart was at Barcelona.
Who can forget the Catalans overcoming a 4-0 first-leg defeat in the 2017 Champions League Round of 16, and winning 6-1 in the second leg to complete the greatest-ever comeback in the history of the competition.
