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Senior Writer, ESPN FC
- Mark Ogden is a senior soccer writer for ESPN.com. Read his archive here and follow him on Twitter: @MarkOgden_.
BIRMINGHAM, England — Paris Saint-Germain held on to secure a spot in the Champions League semifinals after Aston Villa‘s dramatic second-half fightback on Tuesday almost took this epic quarterfinal into extra time.
PSG, leading 3-1 from the first leg, moved 5-1 ahead on aggregate with goals from Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes before the half hour mark of this second leg at Villa Park. But a Youri Tielemans strike shortly before halftime gave Villa hope, and they stunned PSG by taking a 3-2 lead on the night with goals from John McGinn and Ezri Konsa early in the second-half.
Villa then missed a series of chances to level the tie as Les Parisiens held on, but the French champions did enough to seal a semifinal clash against the winners of Wednesday’s second leg between Real Madrid and Arsenal in Spain. — Mark Ogden
Villa give PSG a scare, but leave it too late
Aston Villa certainly went down fighting in this pulsating Champions League quarterfinal, but the 1982 European champions showed fight too late to save themselves against a team of PSG’s quality.
Once Mendes put PSG up 2-0 on the night in the 27th minute, the Ligue 1 champions stretched their aggregate lead to 5-1 and the tie looked all but over. But when Tielemans pulled one back for Villa late in the first-half, it gave the home side hope — even if it was faint.
Yet Villa found something extra in the second-half and they gave PSG an almighty scare by turning the tie on its head with goals from McGinn and Konsa before the hour mark. Marcus Rashford, Konsa and Marco Asensio went close to levelling the tie and then Ian Maatsen almost sent the game into extra-time with a shot that was blocked deep into stoppage time.
Villa really had the chances to save the tie and seal an incredible comeback, but they just couldn’t get the crucial goal. PSG held on, but the frailties they showed in the second-half will be a concern ahead of a semifinal against Arsenal or Real Madrid. — Ogden
Young PSG side learns a valuable lesson
Young and exciting, but clearly still a work in progress — what a lesson for PSG.
For most of this tie, the second-youngest team in the competition (behind Barcelona) have outplayed Aston Villa. But their 3-2 defeat on Tuesday in the second leg showed again how much room for improvement remains.
From a cruising position after 30 minutes and a 5-1 aggregate advantage, they let their opponents back into the game — PSG became sloppy as they took their eyes off the ball and took the rest of the game too lightly. It is almost if the game was too early and they started dropping their intensity and making mistakes by often taking too many risks.
PSG’s unraveling was not so much a sense of panic but more a sense of easiness in what they were doing. Instead of controlling the game and the tempo of it, they let Villa back in.
Against a better team, PSG would have paid for it. On Tuesday, they have learned a very valuable lesson. — Julien Laurens
Rashford proves he can still be a big-time player
Marcus Rashford had a game of two halves at Villa Park. The Aston Villa forward was poor in the first half and lucky not to be replaced at half time, but the decision from Villa coach Unai Emery to stick with the on-loan Manchester United star paid off handsomely in the second half.
Rashford looked short of confidence and belief in the first half, but he exploded into the life after the break and almost scored with a stunning shot that was well saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma. Moments later, Rashford created the opening for Konsa to put Villa ahead on the night with a killer pass and his delivery from a free-kick almost led to a second goal for the Villa defender, who missed his header by inches.
Rashford was full of pace and power as Villa chased the goal to level the tie and it seemed like fate would see him score it. But after running himself into the ground, Rashford was substituted by Emery — but only after showing how good he really can be. — Ogden
Donnarumma wins goalkeeper battle vs. Martinez
Aston Villa goalkeeper Emi Martínez created the headlines ahead of the first leg by taunting French fans with an Argentina cap on his journey to Paris — but when it came to the crunch, the Villa ‘keeper was overshadowed by PSG No. 1 Gianluigi Donnarumma in the battle of the goalkeepers.
Frank Leboeuf criticises PSG’s players for “pretending to play” after going 5-1 up on aggregate, after Aston Villa almost pulled off a stunning comeback.
Donnarumma, so crucial in Italy‘s Euro 2020 triumph, produced three key saves in the second half when PSG were rocking and looking in danger of throwing this tie away. His fingertip save from Marcus Rashford’s powerful shot was the best of the lot and the former AC Milan keeper proved his world-class status just when it mattered for PSG.
As for Martinez, he kept Villa’s hopes alive in the second half with big saves from Ousmane Dembélé and Désiré Doué. But his failure to hold onto Bradley Barcola‘s 11th minute cross gifted a goal to Hakimi and that set PSG on their way to the aggregate win. Both ‘keepers made big saves, but Donnarumma was the one who won the tie for his team. — Ogden
Luis Enrique gets PSG’s game plan right yet again
PSG manager Luis Enrique was spot on again in his game. It is obviously not his fault if his young team made it hard for themselves, but Luis Enrique once again outplayed Emery in their tactical battle.
By choosing to start Barcola ahead of the super in form Doue on the left wing, Luis Enrique bet on the pace of the former Lyon player, and it paid off after just 11 minutes with Barcola sparking the first goal.
In the first leg last week, the PSG fullbacks were one of the keys by pushing forward and inside, and Luis Enrique repeated the same tactics. He asked Mendes and Hakimi to join attacking transitions to unbalance the Villa defence and with a goal each, the plan worked. — Laurens
PSG have the best fullback pairing in the world
You can look at Inter Milan’s Federico Dimarco and Denzel Dumfries, Barcelona’s Jules Koundé and Alejandro Balde or Arsenal’s Jurriën Timber and Myles Lewis-Skelly. But right now, the PSG fullback pairing of Nuno Mendes and Achraf Hakimi is the best in the world.
The pace, the energy, the maturity in their games at respectively 22 and 26 years-old, the goals they score, the chances they create — this duo is a cut above.
They have improved a lot defensively this season too, best illustrated by Mendes’ outstanding performances against Mohamed Salah and Liverpool in he Champions League round of 16. With the ball, they are one of PSG’s main threats now as we saw at Villa Park where their two goals, one each, sent Paris to the semifinals. — Laurens