Ollie Watkins gutted by what Unai Emery’s done to Aston Villa teammate v PSG
Aston Villa are underway in playing out one of the most eagerly anticipated ties in their recent history against Paris Saint-Germain.
Villa are in Paris to face Unai Emery’s former side PSG, who have already sealed the Ligue 1 championship for another year, for a place in the Champions League semi-finals against either Arsenal or Real Madrid.
The Villans will look to at the very least take a respectable or retrievable scoreline back to Birmingham on six days’ time, ahead of what will be an electric night in the Second City.
Emery dashes chance for Ollie Watkins, pundit says
Emery is no stranger to the Parc des Princes, having competed in the Champions League with PSG between 2016 and 2018.
Marco Asensio is eligible to play despite having joined Aston Villa on loan from PSG in the winter transfer window, as UEFA rules stipulate players can feature against their parent clubs in their competitions.
However, Emery has elected to begin with Asensio on the bench, as well as Watkins, while Marcus Rashford – who has previous in Paris with Manchester United – leads the attack.
Ally McCoist admitted live on TNT Sports (20:07) that Asensio and Watkins will be dejected at Emery’s bold decision, but that he understands the head coach’s line of thinking for the first leg in the French capital.
“I think Asensio will have been disappointed,” McCoist confessed.
“But I also think the centre-forward, Ollie Watkins, will be disappointed.
“These are the games you want to play in. That said, I understand the team selection.”
Aston Villa must play the long game v PSG
Aston Villa have been deemed underdogs by many for their quarter-final tie, even despite the second leg coming at Villa Park next Tuesday (15 April).
Luis Enrique’s Parisians have been unstoppable in their domestic form, and have won 21 of their 23 games in the calendar year heading into Wednesday’s first leg.
| Aston Villa forwards v PSG | Status |
| Ollie Watkins | Benched |
| Morgan Rogers | Started |
| Marco Asensio | Benched |
| Marcus Rashford | Started |
| Jacob Ramsey | Started |
| Leon Bailey | Injured |
| Donyell Malen | Ineligible |
PSG also eliminated Liverpool in the round of 16, despite having lost the first leg drastically against the run of play – going on to progress on penalties.
Emery has some supreme talent at his disposal which makes selection headaches for this calibre of game inevitable – but these calls are what he’s hoping doesn’t come back to haunt him against an opponent and manager he knows very well.