Emery pursues first Super Cup as Aston Villa prepare to face PSG in Salzburg
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery will attempt to win his first Super Cup when Villa meet Paris St-Germain in Salzburg on Wednesday, having lost three Super Cup finals previously.
Emery added a fifth Europa League title with Aston Villa in May when they beat Freiburg in Istanbul, ending a 30-year wait for a trophy, but the Super Cup has so far eluded him. His past Super Cup defeats came against Real Madrid and Barcelona while he was at Sevilla, and a penalty shootout loss to Chelsea in Dublin with Villarreal in 2021; a 5-4 extra-time defeat to Barcelona in 2015 came a year after Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice to earn Real Madrid the trophy. Emery had already joined PSG by the time Sevilla lost the 2016 Super Cup to Real.
Emery acknowledged the personal significance of the match while pointing to his captain. "He [pointing to Villa captain John McGinn] was reminding me last week [about losing to Chelsea]," said Emery. "Of course, it's an opportunity. A trophy is something that can give us a special moment. To play for trophies is, as a professional, our objective. "PSG are the favourites but I am looking forward to playing, how we can test this match against PSG with our capacity? "As a coach, as a player, as a club, it's a trophy. It's one thing that makes us proud of how we are and how we arrive here." Around 6,000 Villa supporters are travelling to the game.
PSG players rejected the notion that the Super Cup is merely a glamorous friendly, with midfielder Vitinha saying: "We're still hungry for victories, trophies. It's very difficult to maintain those levels but we're still hungry." Vitinha also warned about Villa's threat, saying: "It was such a difficult test, especially the second half." Defender Marquinhos added: "Just because we've won things these past seasons, that doesn't mean it's easy. We know there'll be plenty of obstacles," and: "Personally, I want more, and each player in the squad is like that. We've all worked to get here, to arrive in the best condition." PSG were reportedly unhappy with the size of their dressing room at Red Bull Arena and were given an additional one by Uefa.
Coaching records in the Super Cup were noted alongside the match build-up: Carlo Ancelotti has five Super Cup wins — two with AC Milan and three with Real Madrid — while Pep Guardiola is one behind with two wins at Barcelona and one each with Bayern Munich and Manchester City. Ancelotti's third Super Cup came when his Real Madrid side beat Emery's Sevilla in 2014. PSG boss Luis Enrique won the Super Cup for the club for the first time last year.
The fixture is a repeat of the 2024-25 Champions League quarter-final between the clubs, when Villa trailed 3-1 from the first leg at Parc des Princes and fell 5-1 down on aggregate in Birmingham before winning the second leg 3-2 and ultimately losing 5-4 on aggregate. That tie remains in the memories of both squads and underpinned PSG's caution about Villa's threat.
Villa's matchday selection in Austria will look markedly different from the side that faced PSG 18 months ago: Morgan Rogers, Lucas Digne and Youri Tielemans have been sold, Amadou Onana is out injured until next year, and Boubacar Kamara is in the squad but only just returning from the serious knee injury he suffered in January. Emi Martinez, Ezri Konsa and Ollie Watkins did not travel after playing at the World Cup, with Emery giving them a month off; it means there is a chance just four of the starters who faced the French champions 18 months ago will start for Villa and five of the substitutes from that night are no longer at the club.
The Super Cup between Aston Villa and Paris St-Germain takes place on Wednesday in Salzburg, offering Emery another opportunity to add the trophy to his list of honours and providing a competitive fixture early in the season calendar.
