Paris Saint-Germain backed as 'favourites' to lift UEFA Champions League after beating Aston Villa in quarter-final first leg, says Rio Ferdinand
Updated 10/04/2025 at 08:57 GMT+1
Rio Ferdinand believes PSG are ready to break their UEFA Champions League duck. The 2019/20 runners-up beat Aston Villa 3-1 in the first leg of their quarter-final tie. Ferdinand thinks they reached a different level of performance in the game, as Luis Enrique's side chalked up a seventh successive victory across all competitions. As such, he makes them favourites to lift the trophy this season.
Highlights: Three ridiculous goals undo Villa in Paris
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TNT Sports expert Rio Ferdinand has branded Paris Saint-Germain "favourites" to win the UEFA Champions League this season.
It comes in the wake of their 3-1 victory over Aston Villa in the first leg of their quarter-final tie.
Morgan Rogers had given the English side the lead in the French capital, but they were unable to hang on and now face an uphill battle to reach the last four.
PSG, on the other hand, are a step closer to lifting the trophy for the first time.
They have come close before, twice reaching the semi-finals and finishing as runners-up in 2019/20, and Ferdinand believes they can finally break their duck.
"As much as we've been sitting there blown away by the goals we saw and the moments of skill and brilliance from the PSG players, I was just as impressed, if not more, with their ability to get the ball back and win it back," he said.
"They played with an authority of a team that have won this tournament many times before, but they haven't.
"It looks like they're a team that know how to get the best out of each individual player and really dominate opposing players - man-to-man, but also as a collective.
"I have them as favourites right now; the way I saw them manhandle Liverpool over two legs, and the way I saw them dominate this game here.
"They absolutely took this tie away from Aston Villa in terms of performance and authority. They're going into the next game absolute favourites."
Villa's lead on the night lasted just four minutes, as Desire Doue equalised for the hosts almost immediately.
Luis Enrique's side had turned the game around completely shortly after half-time, when Khvicha Kvaratskhelia made it 2-1.
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Ferdinand adamant tie ‘is not over’ for Villa – ‘They’ve got players who can hurt PSG’
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But the killer blow for the visitors was Nuno Mendes' stoppage-time strike, giving PSG a two-goal cushion.
Ex-Villa defender Alan Hutton was part of TNT Sports' coverage for the game, and he said it was always going to be hard for his former side to compete after the break.
"They [PSG] just absolutely suffocate you," he said. "It was probably my biggest fear going into the second half.
"Defensively, you have to be totally switched on as a Villa player. You can't give them gaps to play in.
"I just thought mentally and physically they would tire. Villa did tire, and I thought PSG just got stronger. They found areas to go and penetrate.
"I'm gutted that they got that third goal, to be totally honest, because I think right now, if you offered Aston Villa a 2-1 loss, they would have taken that and moved onto the second leg."
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'This is a different PSG than we've seen before' - Ferdinand
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'A different PSG team than we've ever seen in this competition'
The return fixture takes place at Villa Park on Tuesday, April 15.
Unai Emery's side are unbeaten in 17 games on their home turf, including a run of four successive victories.
That form includes wins over Celtic and Club Brugge in this competition, while Bayern Munich and Bologna have also left Birmingham empty-handed this season.
Although Ferdinand insisted their hopes of reaching a first Champions League semi-final since 1981/82 are not dead and buried, he outlined why it will be tough for them to overturn a two-goal deficit.
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'It's not done yet' – Fighting talk from Rogers after Villa lose at PSG
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"They're going to go to Villa Park and their fans, rightly so, are going to get behind that team," he continued. "They're going to push them on and they're going to expect them to be on the front foot.
"Against this team, going on the front foot, the spaces open up. A little glimmer of space to play through, they get it through. It's a really, really tough proposition for this Villa team.
"It's not over, by any means. They've got players who can hurt this PSG team and they've got a manager who knows his way around Europe, winning trophies.
"But this is a different PSG team than we've ever seen in this competition."
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