Paris Turns on the Style as Villa Get a Lesson in Class

Under the lights at Parc des Princes, Paris Saint-Germain did what the elite do best—respond with power, purpose, and panache. Aston Villa might have landed the first punch, but it was PSG who threw the knockout blows.

When Rogers stunned the home crowd with a goal just before halftime, it felt like the script was shifting. Villa looked organized, confident, and ready to drag the French giants into a scrap. But if PSG felt the heat, they didn’t show it. They responded like champions.

First came a beautiful equalizer, with Doue curling one into the top corner that had the stadium on its feet. Moments later, Kvaratskhelia—who seemed to be everywhere at once—put PSG ahead with a strike so smooth it felt inevitable. Villa tried to rally, but by then the energy had shifted entirely.

And just when they needed a lifeline, it was PSG who turned the screw. In stoppage time, Dembele combined effortlessly with Nuno Mendes, whose cut-back found a calm, clinical finish from Martinez to seal it. Cue the celebrations, cue the warning shots to the rest of Europe.

Aston Villa weren’t poor—they just ran into a team with too much quality, too much movement, and too much swagger. Emery’s side will have a mountain to climb back in Birmingham, but make no mistake, this tie now belongs to PSG.

If this was a statement performance, it was loud and clear: Paris aren’t just here to compete—they’re coming for it all.