The new season raises its curtain with a customary clash of European champions as Paris Saint-Germain take on Aston Villa in the Super Cup.
Champions League winners PSG are the holders of the title after beating Tottenham on penalties last year, and they’ll get another shot at the crown after breaking the hearts of Spurs’ north London rivals Arsenal in the same manner in Budapest.
Villa will hope to end the Parisians’ dominance of English teams when silverware is on the line, earning their place in this showpiece occasion after cruising to the Europa League title in their 3-0 final win against Freiburg.
The match-up offers a couple of notable reunions with Villa boss Unai Emery facing the club he won a Ligue 1 title win in 2017/18 – while Lucas Digne will also line-up against the Villans after rejoining PSG just last weekend.
Follow all the action with our liveblog below:
PSG’s early team news
PSG boss Luis Enrique has a full squad at his disposal after key names returned from their post-World Cup break, though the likes of Ousmane Dembele, Bradley Barcola and Achraf Hakimi may not be fit enough to start.
The only potential injury concern surrounds Nuno Mendes who suffered a muscle problem for Portugal, but that only seemed minor.
Lucas Digne could feature against his former club if Enrique opts not to take any chances.
Predicted PSG XI: Safonov; Hakimi, Marquinhos, Pacho, Mendes; Beraldo, Neves, Vitinha, Zaire-Emery; Mbaye, Dembele, Kvaratskhelia.
How can I watch it?
Viewers in the UK can watch the match on TNT Sports 1 and TNT Sports Ultimate, with coverage starting at 7pm BST. It can also be streamed on HBO Max.
When is PSG vs Aston Villa?
The Super Cup clash between PSG and Aston Villa kicks off at 8pm BST on Wednesday 12 August at the Red Bull Arena in Salzburg, Austria.
PSG vs Aston Villa
The new season raises its curtain with a customary clash of European champions as Paris Saint-Germain take on Aston Villa.
Villa will hope to end the Parisians’ dominance of English teams when silverware is on the line, earning their place in this showpiece occasion after cruising to the Europa League title in their 3-0 final win against Freiburg.
The match-up offers a couple of notable reunions with Villa boss Unai Emery facing the club he won a Ligue 1 title win in 2017/18 – while Lucas Digne will also line-up against the Villans after rejoining PSG just last weekend.
Good evening!
Welcome to The Independent’s coverage of tonight’s Super Cup action as PSG take on Aston Villa.
It’s the Champions League winners versus the Europa League champions and this clash will be a decent test for Unai Emery’s men who will be competing in the European top flight this season.
Should they come through it victorious they will take confidence into the league phase knowing that on their day they can defeat any of the top teams.
PSG are the holders of the title though and they are arguably the best team in Europe so they go into this contest as the heavy favourites.
We’ll have all the team news, line-ups and updates throughout the evening so stick with us as we build up to kick off at 8pm.
