Wednesday night sees Aston Villa take on PSG inside the Parc des Princes – with a place in the last four of the UEFA Champions League up for grabs.
Unai Emery returns to Paris with his Aston Villa side full of confidence, having won their last seven games across all competitions, including an FA Cup quarter-final victory to book a spot at Wembley.
However, PSG have won 25 of their last 27 games in all competitions, with Luis Enrique even sealing the Ligue 1 title last week without tasting defeat in Ligue 1, so it will be an incredibly tough match for the Villans.
Ahead of the tie, Desire Doue has provided an insight into how this strong PSG are approaching the clash, with Emiliano Martinez at the centre of the discussion.
Desire Doue says PSG are not scared of Emiliano Martinez as he pays his respects to Aston Villa
The PSG No.14 was asked about the Argentina international – current holder of the Yashin Trophy, presented to the best goalkeeper in the world at the Ballon d’Or ceremony in October.
Martinez – who also won the award in 2023 – is clearly viewed as a key man by the Parisian media, although Doue has no qualms about facing the South American, opting to play down his talents.
The France international told RMC Sport: “Martinez? He’s a goalkeeper (just) like any other. I haven’t faced him yet. The goal will be to score as many goals as possible against him.”
🧤”Dibu Martinez ? C’est un gardien comme les autres. Je ne l’ai pas encore affronté. L’objectif sera de lui marquer autant de buts que possible” pic.twitter.com/LUb22gzmlw
— RMC Sport (@RMCsport) April 8, 2025
Doue – who Tottenham wanted to sign – did, however, show respect to Aston Villa despite glossing over the ability of Martinez, saying that they deserve to be dining at this particular table in Europe.
The 19-year-old added: “When you reach the quarter-finals, there are no coincidences. If Aston Villa are there, it’s because they deserve it. We’re approaching this match with great seriousness. We’re going there to win. We have to be serious from start to finish. In the return leg too.”
With a knockout specialist such as Emery on the opposing side, who guided Villarreal to the UEFA Champions League semi-final back in 2022, you can understand why Doue and PSG are not getting complacent.
Can Marco Asensio play?
Many have been wondering whether Marco Asensio can play against PSG – seeing as he is on loan from the French giants.
Interestingly, while the Premier League would not allow it, UEFA have different rules as they state clubs cannot have “any influence whatsoever over the players that another club may field in a match”.
As a result, we have previously seen the likes of Philippe Coutinho score against Barcelona for Bayern Munich – despite being on loan to the Germans from the Spaniards – while James Rodriguez also scored against Real Madrid, despite being on loan at the Allianz Arena from the Santiago Bernabeu.
