On Tuesday, Paris Saint-Germain faced Aston Villa at Villa Park in the second leg of the Champions League 2024-2025 quarter-finals (3-1 first leg, 4-5 aggregate). Bixente Lizarazu, former World Champion (98), spoke to L’Equipe after the 3-2 English victory (video summary Aston Villa/PSG) but PSG’s qualification.
“How do you explain the turnaround in the match?
I don’t know whether it was complacency, lack of concentration or overconfidence. (…) At one point, they stopped applying themselves and lost the basis of discipline, with superfluous little gestures that looked like complacency.
Paris completely lost the plot. If Donnarumma hadn’t had a great game and made some extraordinary saves, it would have been a nightmare. He was the best player in the second half, he saved his team.”
You can say anything, try to explain anything, but sometimes soccer comes down to a few things. We’re aware that everyone was expecting an easy game, but most of the people who talk afterwards, who analyze, forget the basics of this sport. Aston Villa refused to die in the second half, while at the same time PSG had their moments.
It’ll be a quick learning curve, and we’ll have to do better in the future. PSG’s qualities have not disappeared, but there is still room for doubt. Luis Enrique will be putting his men through their paces for the rest of the campaign, and he’ll be keen to get his team back to the form we’ve seen over the last few months.
