Paris Saint-Germain will take on Aston Villa with a semifinal spot on the line. PSG earned their place with a dramatic Round of 16 win over Liverpool, advancing through a tense penalty shootout.
Aston Villa had a smoother path, cruising past Club Brugge with a commanding 6-1 aggregate score. The matchup gets even more intriguing with Unai Emery and Marco Asensio both aiming to get one over on their former club.
Both teams come into the game with wins this past weekend—PSG secured a 1-0 victory over Angers, clinching their 13th league title, while Aston Villa triumphed 2-1 against Nottingham Forest.
While Luis Enrique’s resume speaks for itself as one of Europe’s top managers, one current player doesn’t put Emery in the same category.
Why Unai Emery isn’t a top-rated manager, per a current player
Ahead of the first leg on Wednesday, there will be takes from pundits, journalists, and current and former players. One player who gave his analysis on the tie is Artem Dzyuba, who spoke to Sports.ru.
“Because at PSG, he messed up, at Arsenal, he messed up,” Dzyuba told the outlet (h/t Le10Sport). “It’s difficult for him at big clubs. Let me explain why. As a coach, he’s really very good. As a person, he has some issues, he has his own psychiatrist over there.”
While Dzyuba didn’t play for or against Emery, PSG does have Russian goalkeeper Matvei Safonov on their squad, so it’s no surprise that the media in that country have an invested interest in this tie.
