With Paris Saint-Germain having overcome a dogged Aston Villa side to book their place in the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League after a frantic two-legged tie, let’s take a look at some of the key elements of Les Parisiens’ 5-4 aggregate win.
INSPIRED ATTACKERS
It all started at the Parc des Princes, where, following Morgan Rogers's opener against the run of play, Désiré Doué sparked his side's comeback from the left wing. Having cut inside, Paris's no. 14 fired a stunning, right-footed shot that found the far corner of the net after hitting the underside of the crossbar and leaving Emiliano Martínez rooted to the spot.
Just when we thought that we'd seen the best goal of the night, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia reminded us that good things come in pairs as he doubled the capital club's lead after the interval. Having received the ball around 40 yards from goal, the Georgian winger made his way through the entire Villa half of the pitch, beating Axel Disasi by subtly rolling the ball past him before striking it cleanly from a tight angle to leave the Argentine keeper with no chance.
CLINICAL FULL-BACKS
Now ahead on the scoreboard, Paris were pushing for a third goal on home turf. Having kept himself very busy over on the right wing, Achraf Hakimi, the captain for the evening, charged into the English side's penalty area and beat Martínez from another difficult angle, but the Moroccan's goal was eventually ruled out as he had strayed marginally offside in the build-up. However, Paris's third of the night would well and truly be the work of a full-back. In additional time at the end of a first leg that Les Rouge et Bleu had almost completely dominated, it was Nuno Mendes's turn to sneak into the opposition box before he turned Ezri Konsa inside out and laid Martínez down to seal a 3-1 win for Paris.
That third goal would prove vital ahead of the second leg at Villa Park, where the capital club's full-backs shone once again. Having stayed alert when the ball was pushed back into the middle by The Villans' man between the sticks, Hakimi found himself onside this time and kept his composure to open the scoring for his side on the night with 11 minutes played. A quarter of an hour later, Mendes imitated his fellow full-back and got himself on the scoresheet yet again to finish off a lovely team move and extend Paris's lead even further, albeit with the help of the post, after Ousmane Dembélé had laid the ball back to the Portugal international on the edge of the box.
DONNARUMMA'S DOMINANCE AND PACHO'S LAST-DITCH HEROICS
Although they were firmly up against it at this point, Aston Villa weren't going to give up the fight just yet; after reducing the deficit in the first half through Youri Tielemans, the Birmingham-based outfit began to make Les Rouge et Bleu genuinely doubt themselves in the second 45', when the wind looked to be more in the hosts' sails. The Villans would move into a second-leg lead thanks to goals from John McGinn and the aforementioned Konsa before applying further pressure on Gianluigi Donnarumma's net, with the Italian stopper being called into action once by a Tielemans header on the hour mark and then again ten minutes later, when he emerged victorious from a one-v.-one with Marco Asensio.
Just when Paris's last line of defence appeared beaten, though, he could still rely on his defenders. In the dying moments of this tight second leg, Villa substitute Ian Maatsen produced a top-drawer volley that looked destined for the bottom-right corner, but that was without counting upon the presence of Willian Pacho, who put himself into the firing line and blocked the home side's final attempt of the tie with his thigh to keep Les Rouge et Bleu in front on aggregate.
THE OMNIPRESENT 12th man
From the pre-match build-up at the Parc des Princes to the relief of the final whistle at Villa Park, Les Parisiens were backed by the unwavering support of their fans, who once again rose to the occasion, firstly on home soil by unfurling a remarkable Peaky Blinders–inspired tifo a few minutes ahead of kick-off, before helping Luis Enrique's men to come from behind in the first leg after the visitors' opener.
The capital club's supporters then travelled in their droves to encourage their team from the stands at The Villans' home ground, where the tie's script would take an unexpectedly tricky turn. Despite Villa Park's reputation as one of the most passionate stadiums in England, though, it was the Paris fans' chants that were the loudest for much of the encounter, even after the final whistle, when Les Rouge et Bleu took the opportunity to thank their fans and to celebrate the result with them, thereby providing further evidence – if it were even still needed – of the impact of the Paris faithful in these hard-fought clashes.