Aston Villa team news, predicted line-up, TV details and match preview for UEFA Super Cup v Paris Saint-Germain
How to watch PSG v Aston Villa in the UEFA Super Cup
44 years ago, Aston Villa scored twice in extra time to win the European Super Cup against Barcelona. Gordon Cowans and Ken McNaught added to Gary Shaw’s goal to blow the Cup Winners’ Cup winners away in a very spicy second leg at Villa Park.
Villa have won a host of trophies in their long history and I always liked that they followed their European Cup win by adding the Super Cup even if its actual worth was insignificant when compared to the triumph that entitled them to play in it.
The same is true of Wednesday’s UEFA Super Cup against Paris Saint-Germain in Salzburg. Winning the Europa League was what really mattered but wouldn’t it be nice to be talking about two-time Super Cup champions on Thursday morning?
Equally, defeat in Austria would mean little. PSG are back-to-back Champions League winners, Villa a club delighted simply to have qualified for it twice in three seasons.
Villa manager Unai Emery has lost the Super Cup after all four of his previous Europa League wins, a record that is typical of the occasion. The Champions League winners usually win the Super Cup too.
This is a free hit.
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Aston Villa team news
Ollie Watkins – Emery has omitted the players involved in the final weekend of the World Cup in order to give them four weeks of recuperation time.
Ezri Konsa – Played in the third-placed play-off with England and is unavailable.
Emiliano Martínez – Played in the World Cup final and is unavailable.
Johan Manzambi – Injured.
John McGinn – Returned to training on Tuesday and is eligible to feature.
Alejandro Garnacho – Also available after training on Tuesday.
Brian Madjo – Has travelled to Salzburg despite not being named in the List A squad, which can be changed until midnight the day before the game.
Predicted line-up
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Starting XI: Marco Bizot; Matty Cash, Victor Lindelöf, Pau Torres, Ian Maatsen; Boubacar Kamara, João Gomes; Alysson, Emi Buendía, Alejandro Garnacho; Tammy Abraham.
Villa hunting for a fourth European trophy
I don’t really think the Super Cup counts as a European final but I’d be tempted to reassess should Villa extend their winning record in them to four out of four.
That’s the kind of thing that can work its way into the psyche of a football club and it would be no bad thing to have a positive relationship with winning big games at the highest level.
But Villa will be up against it. There are loads of reasons to rue the enforced sales of Youri Tielemans, Morgan Rogers and Lucas Digne, and one of the repercussions is that it will take until the end of the transfer window at a minimum to figure out what’s next and to carry it out.
In other words, Villa are not and cannot be ready to face the best team on the continent eleven days before the start of the Premier League season. It’s simply too much to ask and our expectations against PSG should be tempered accordingly.
PSG are the holders and beat English opposition last August, albeit that was Tottenham Hotspur.
The game ended 2-2 in Udine thanks to a pair of late PSG goals, and the European champions went on to win 4-3 on penalties despite Vitinha failing to score with their first attempt.
The Portugal midfielder and many more of PSG’s players were at the World Cup in June and July, so they arrive on the back of a fragmented pre-season just like their opponents.
PSG have added to their ranks since retaining the Champions League. As well as acquiring Digne from Villa, attacking midfielder Maghnes Akliouche has been signed from Ligue 1 rivals Monaco. Like Villa, I’d expect them to have more additions in the pipeline.
For the record, there is cash on the line. Villa will be paid £3.4 million for participating in the Super Cup, a figure that will rise beyond £4 million if they leave Austria as the winners.
It’s nice work if you can get it.
The referee for Wednesday’s game is Omar Artan, the 34-year-old Somali official who was turned back from the United States after being appointed to work at the World Cup.
He was then left out to dry by FIFA, which entirely abdicated its obligations to him and did so in direct contravention of its stated requirements of World Cup host nations.
Wonder why.
How to watch PSG v Aston Villa
PSG v Aston Villa is an 8.00pm kick-off on Wednesday 12th August.
📺 TNT Sports 1 / HBO Max
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