PSG and Barca living the Champions League dream, Delap race hots up and a pyro party in Iran

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Hello! Money shouldn’t be able to buy what Khvicha Kvaratskhelia does. But Paris Saint-Germain’s did.

(X/@footballontnt)

On the way:

🧠 PSG outsmart Villa
✍️ Salah, VVD ready to sign
😮 Matic roasts Onana
🇮🇷 Iran’s 100,000+ crowd

Doue flattens Villa: Luis Enrique’s stars cut through the baiting to build 3-1 lead

Against their better judgement, Aston Villa took the mind games to Paris.

Emiliano Martinez was first to partake, rolling into town wearing a cap (below) emblazoned with a cockerel and his four international trophies, a nod to the not-always-savoury hostility between France and Argentina. Underneath was the same haircut the goalkeeper sported as he and his Argentina team-mates beat the French in the 2022 World Cup final; Emi being Emi, in other words.

Morgan Rogers was on the Champions League wind-up train too, marking scoring the opening goal away at Paris Saint-Germain by borrowing Thierry Henry’s hand-on-the-corner-flag celebration. It’s almost as if Villa had given their shtick some thought.

A nice try, but PSG are too cute to fall for routine psychology. They’ve got Desire Doue, curling like a Scotsman on an ice rink (below). They’ve got Khvicha Kvaratskhelia doing Kvaradona things (top). They’ve got Luis Enrique, whose reign as PSG’s coach is his calling in life. Stung by Rogers’ finish on the counter-attack, their side’s exquisite balance carved out a 3-1 aggregate lead.

(X/@footballontnt)

Villa have the return leg of the quarter-final to come, of course, and it’s on home turf. They’d have been coming in hot, bang in the tie, were it not for Nuno Mendes giving PSG breathing space with the third in the 92nd minute. PSG, though, have put Manchester City and Liverpool through the European blender already this season. It takes more than mind games to rattle them. All things considered, it might take Barcelona.

Can anyone stop Barca?

Lamine Yamal celebrates with Raphinha (Pedro Salado/Getty Images)

Speaking of which… Over in Spain, it was goodnight Borussia Dortmund, the misfits of the last eight. 

Barcelona’s multi-pronged attack were in kill mode, cutting loose and sticking four past them. Raphinha (one more goal, two more assists) is the man who looks at you like the coming night. Robert Lewandowski chipped in with a brace. I’m not sure who stops this force of nature, and I won’t be waiting up for the result of Tuesday’s second leg.

Onana in Lyon’s den: Matic labels goalkeeper ‘one of the worst’ in Man Utd’s history

Things we love to see: some full-on beef as Lyon get ready to host Manchester United in the Europa League tonight. Andre Onana thinks United have Lyon’s number. Lyon midfielder Nemanja Matic returned that serve by calling Onana “one of the worst goalkeepers in Manchester United’s history”. Miaow.

Lyon midfielder Nemanja Matic during their 3-1 defeat against PSG in December (Franco Arland/Getty Images)

Matic is maintaining a trend of people beating down on the squad at Old Trafford, which is why some transfer manoeuvres are called for this summer — and why United are closely shadowing Liam Delap, the silky Ipswich Town forward who won’t be sticking around when they get relegated from the Premier League in the coming weeks.

Delap can be legitimately described as a class apart compared to much of what lies around him at Portman Road, and he’s a 22-year-old with big investment credentials. He won’t cost as much as an Alexander Isak, who our analysis values at up to £110million ($140m).

As Danny Taylor notes, other teams will be tempted to join an auction for Delap but sooner or later, Manchester United have to step into a world where their resources create envy, rather than scorn.

• Introducing Goncalo Feio, the Legia Warsaw boss. He’s a fan of Jose Mourinho, or “the big guy” as he calls him. He was once sanctioned for a scrap with a club director. His Legia team stand in the way of Chelsea in the Conference League’s last eight. George Caulkin caught up with him, and lived to tell the tale.

Liverpool contract breakthrough: Salah and Van Dijk set to sign deals until 2027

Richard Hughes, Liverpool’s sporting director, will be awash with relief this morning. Or if not relief, then vindication. The club are virtually there with new deals for Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk. David Ornstein broke the news that both players are set to re-sign until 2027.

To this point, much of the flak created by key contract talks dragging on has flown the way of Hughes, the man Liverpool’s owners at Fenway Sports Group hired for the post-Jurgen Klopp era. The outcome of those deals became a litmus test of Hughes’ nous — he hasn’t seduced Trent Alexander-Arnold but two out of three ain’t bad.

Salah and Van Dijk look set to stay together at Liverpool (Simon Stacpoole/Getty Images)

Liverpool won’t regret these renewals. The upsides are threefold. Over the next couple of years, they’ll squeeze the last drops of elite class from Salah and Van Dijk, who turn 33 and 34 this summer. It’s two fewer pairs of shoes to fill during the coming transfer window. And retaining them reassures the club’s fanbase that the new regime Hughes heads up can, in fact, get business done. Win, win, win.

News Round-Up 🗞️

Around The Athletic FC 🔄

Catch a match 📺

(Kick-offs ET/UK time, all 3pm/8pm and Paramount+/TNT Sports unless stated)

Europa League quarter-finals first leg: Bodo/Glimt vs Lazio, 12.45pm/5.45pm — CBS, Paramount+, Fubo/TNT Sports; Lyon vs Manchester United; Rangers vs Athletic Club — CBS, Paramount+, Fubo/TNT Sports; Tottenham Hotspur vs Eintracht Frankfurt.

Conference League quarter-finals first leg: Legia Warsaw vs Chelsea, 12.45pm/5.45pm; Celje vs Fiorentina.

And finally… 🎆

Let’s finish in Iran, where it seemed as if the entire population of the city of Tabriz (more than 350 miles north-east of Tehran) downed tools for Tractor FC’s Persian Gulf Pro League tussle with Esteghlal.

Aside from having a cracking name — they were founded by a tractor manufacturing firm in the 1970s — Tractor FC also occupy a stadium that has a nominal capacity of around 70,000 but can stretch to six figures.

Estimates of the attendance for their 2-1 victory over Esteghlal ranged from 100,000 to 120,000 (the club have not published a precise or verified total), and the firework display was epic. They’re top of the Pro League, with a maiden title at their fingertips. Imagine the pyro party if they win it.

(Top photo: Michael Steele/Getty Images)

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