Paris Saint-Germain have plenty of reasons to be wary about Aston Villa, despite teaching Liverpool a lesson in the Champions League.
Luis Enrique’s side jumped up to joint favourites to win this year’s European Cup after defeating Arne Slot’s Reds at Anfield.
In Paris, they outplayed the league phase table toppers, which should give Villa, who sit 22 points behind Liverpool in England’s top flight, plenty of cause for concern.
Yet European football expert, Andy Brassell, thinks there will be just as much concern in the French capital when the two teams clash.
One of the reasons for that is PSG’s recent humiliating history in the competition, coupled with the fact they’ve never won it – unlike Villa.
“So much has gone wrong for PSG in the Champions League in recent seasons and in the QSI [Qatar Sports Investment] era that there’s a little bit of trepidation,” Brassell he told talkSPORT, referring to the club’s owners.
Another reason for pause is two of their January signings who have flown out of the blocks.
One of them is Marco Asensio, who began the season with PSG before being loaned to Villa Park in January, and another is Marcus Rashford, who joined from Manchester United.
“Asensio, of course, I don’t think anyone else has scored as many Premier League goals since he arrived,” Brassell said.
“The other thing is Marcus Rashford scored the goal that put them out a couple of years ago so that’s in their minds as well.
“It seems like an obvious thing to say, or maybe not because Villa were so good for much of the league phase, but I think you have to underline the contributions of Asensio and Rashford.
“I think we’ve seen this in a couple of games recently, whether Villa are playing well or not doesn’t really matter.
“They’ve still got players of the quality that can turn around a game in a couple of minutes and PSG are acutely aware of that as well, I think that’s something we have to point out.”
Asensio and Rashford arrived in January and have added a whole new dimension to Villa’s attack, combining perfectly to get off to a flying start.
The Spaniard has eight goals and an assist, while England’s Rashford has three goals and four assists.
A three-time Champions League winner with Real Madrid, Asensio won’t need any extra motivation to prove his parent club wrong for deeming him surplus to requirements.
Meanwhile, Rashford has regularly been linked to the French champions, having scored three goals in four games against them, including knocking them out of the competition in 2019.
With all things considered, Brassell believes there’s plenty of reason for Unai Emery and his squad to be confident, even if the Liverpool game might have been a scare.
“Villa are well in this tie but they have to be careful when it comes to the away leg,” he explained.
“Emery will understand that, of course, and it’s unlikely they’ll go there and play openly and PSG also have the weapons, even post-Kylian Mbappe, to take you to bits on the counter attack.
“We all know what PSG have got, the mobility of that front three is something really special, but Villa have got back to grinding out results now and I think the clean sheets of recent weeks are really important as well, especially that uptick in form.
“They’ve earned this opportunity and they’ve earned this tie and they’re well in it, I think.”
The Parc des Princes hosts the first leg of the tie, live on talkSPORT on Wednesday, before the return at Villa Park on April 15.
PSG are already Ligue 1 champions, having wrapped up the title with six games to go thanks to a 1-0 win over Angers at the weekend.
