Paris Saint-Germain are gearing up to face Aston Villa with a spot in the semifinals up for grabs. PSG punched their ticket to the quarterfinals after a nail-biting Round of 16 battle with Liverpool, coming out on top in a tense penalty shootout.
Aston Villa had a much easier time in their previous round, cruising past Club Brugge with a dominant 6-1 aggregate win. To make things more interesting, Unai Emery and Marco Asensio are both set to face off against their former clubs, adding a layer of personal drama to the tie.
Both sides enter this clash riding a wave of momentum. PSG just clinched their 13th league title with a 1-0 win over Angers, while Villa edged Nottingham Forest 2-1 in their most recent outing.
What Aston Villa player could prove crucial?
On the latest PSG Talking podcast, Jonathan Johnson of CBS Sports discussed why Pau Torres is a key player to watch, explaining how he’s essential to the style of play Unai Emery wants to implement.
“PSG don’t have the same physical threat that many Premier League sides do,” Johnson said. “So that actually plays into Emery’s hands a little bit because Emery has made Pau Torres really crucial to the way Villa play and the way they build up from the back. This enables them to focus on slightly different needs for this game.
“I’d be surprised if he went with Torres and Tyrone Mings, but equally, doing that would enable him to put somebody like Concert right back, which would be a very solid defensive presence, though you lose a bit going forward. So, I’m hesitating as to how Villa are totally going to approach this tactically.”
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