Julius OkorieEnglish Premier League side Aston Villa and Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund have only two options tonight as they file out against formidable opponents PSG and Barcelona respectively in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League quarters.
Turn the table in front of their home fans after a disappointing outing in the first leg away, or hit the exit doors period.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelAston Villa go into tonight’s match as underdogs after losing the first leg 3-1 against Ligue 1 giants PSG who are desperate to lay hand on their first ever champions League title.
Villa, thus face a two-goal deficit. While scoring an important away goal is a positive, Villa, will need to unleash every arsenal in their armory if they are to jump the tonight’s hurdle which from all indication will be too tough for comfort.
Under Unai Emery’s leadership, they have demonstrated resilience in their European campaign. However, PSG’s potent attacking lineup and experience position them as favourites to advance.
A 3-1 deficit is still far from insurmountable, but the difference between a one goal and two-goal disadvantage in the Champions League can be night and day, and Aston Villa have been eliminated on each of the previous two occasions where they have lost the first leg of a European knockout match by two or more goals, and tonight doesn’t look like it will be different.
The Lions’ trip to relegated Southampton at the weekend was also an uncomfortable watch for the opening 70 minutes, before strikes from Ollie Watkins, John McGinn and Donyell Malen propelled Villa to a morale-boosting 3-0 win, one that spared Marco Asensio’s blushes after the PSG loanee had two penalties saved by Aaron Ramsdale.
The Lions have also won each of their last four games on home soil, have scored at least two goals in seven of their last eight in front of their own fans, and Emery has won 11 of his last 13 home matches in European competition. And if this statistics is anything to go by, PSG will be better of not to take anything for granted and assume that the job has already been done in Paris.
To put it simply, PSG can take nothing for granted.
It has been almost exactly eight years since Emery’s Parisiens were the victims of the famous Barcelona remontada in the 2016/17 season, and of the seven previous occasions where PSG have won the first leg of a Champions League knockout battle by at least two goals, they have been knocked out in three of them.
Unlike Villa, Les Parisiens have just enjoyed the luxury of a weekend with no domestic football, although they had already wrapped up the 2024-25 Ligue 1 title with six games to spare earlier this month and could still achieve Invincible status in the top flight.
As per tonight’s setting, all odds point to PSG sealing the semi-final slot.
Tall Order For Dortmund:
While Aston Villa and PSG settle scores in Birmingham, Dortmund will attempt to pull a miracle against Barcelona who, come into tonight’s encounter with a four goal advantage after a clinical performance in the first leg.
Xavi’s squad showcased clinical finishing, leaving Dortmund with a slim chance of a comeback.
While the home advantage and support of their fans may provide motivation, overcoming such a significant deficit against a formidable Barcelona side is a daunting challenge
All three of Flick’s prolific attackers were on song in last week’s first leg, where Lewandowski struck twice against his old team either side of strikes from Raphinha and Yamal, the former of whom matched Messi’s club record for the most goal involvements in a single Champions League season (19).
As Barcelona fans celebrated, the Dortmund faithful likely mourned their dreams of going one better in this season’s Champions League than they did in 2023-24, as on the previous 159 occasions where a team has lost the first leg of a UCL knockout game by four goals or more, that team has been dumped out 158 times.
Only Barcelona themselves (against Paris Saint-Germain in 2017) have ever completed such an astounding comeback, and Dortmund’s chronic inconsistency throughout a troubled 2024-25 campaign makes it nigh on impossible to envisage Niko Kovac’s side repeating the Catalans’ trick tonight.
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BVB at least left with their pride in tact from Saturday’s Bundesliga Klassiker against Bayern Munich, holding the league leaders to a praiseworthy 2-2 draw at the Allianz Arena, but they can only boast a measly three victories from their last 12 matches at the Signal Iduna Park. It is safe to say that Dortmund will indeed try their luck tonight but overcoming four goal deficit can only be a miracle which their fans will be dreaming to see.
Arsenal, Inter Milan On Consolidation Mission:
The Champions League quarter-final last leg continues Wednesday with Real Madrid who failed to score a goal as Arsenal ran away with a 3-0 win in the first leg at the Emirates, hoping to make a comeback.
If the Gunners had led by a lone goal or two they would have been approaching the return leg with a lot of caution but a 3-0 advantage, the pressure is on Carlo Ancelotti and his boys. Though you never say never in football and with the hunger in England international Jude Bellingham, despite Madrid defeat in the first leg, anything can happen.
In the second game Wednesday, Inter Milan, go into the final leg with slim 2-1 advantage over visiting Bayern Munich.
Anticipate an exciting matchup at the San Siro, as both teams boast considerable attacking talent. This contest is perhaps the most unpredictable of the quartet.
The first-leg defeat was the first time Bayern had lost at home in Europe for four years, when Paris Saint-Germain defeated them in the quarter-finals, and they do not bring scintillating form into this fixture either.
That is not to say it will be a tea party for Inter Milan though as 2-1 is certainly too close to call.
Soccer fans can hardly wait to see the last four teams standing in this year’s Champions League, at least two will emerge tonight and tomorrow is another day.
Julius Okorie is Chief Sports and Entertainment Correspondent for Prime Business Africa. He began his journalism career with the Champion Newspaper and Sporting Champion and later moved on to Daily Independent and the Nation Newspapers. Okorie joined Prime Business Africa in 2024 bringing on board 20 years of experience in writing investigative news on Sports and Entertainment. His well researched and highly informative articles on Sports Business and general entertainment are followed by a wide range of audience.
