"Villa" on the water: what awaits PSG Safonov in the match for the UEFA Super Cup

On Wednesday, August 12, Matvey Safonov will try to win another trophy with Paris Saint-Germain. On this day, Parisians on the field of the Red Bull Arena in Salzburg will compete with the English Aston Villa for the UEFA Super Cup. They are the clear favorites, even though they came out of vacation just a couple of weeks ago and managed to play only two friendly matches without winning any of them. Aston Villa head coach Unai Emery will obviously have a special attitude towards this game — previously, his teams had already tried to take the Super Cup three times, but each time they lost.

PSG does not lose to Premier League clubs

Luis Enrique's team didn't spend much time on pre-season training. PSG came out of vacation only on July 27, and most of the players received additional rest after the World Cup. During this period, the Parisians played only two friendly matches without winning a single victory: they lost to Mallorca (0:3) and drew with Manchester United (1:1).

But PSG is still the obvious favorite in the upcoming European Super Cup competition. This is evidenced by the basic strength of the squad and the status of the best team on the continent right now. A significant date will also give special motivation — August 12 marks the 56th anniversary of the founding of PSG. The next European Cup will be a great gift for both the team and its fans.

PSG's second consecutive UEFA Super Cup will bring potential success in the upcoming match. Almost a year ago, on August 13, 2025, the Parisian club, also in the status of the winner of the Champions League, beat another English team, the then winner of the Europa League, Tottenham Hotspur— 2-2 in regular time and 4-3 in a penalty shootout. Moreover, until the 85th minute, PSG lost 0:2 and only on the fourth added to the match managed to turn the game into a penalty shootout.

In general, English teams have become almost regular customers of PSG last season. However, they were not entitled to any discounts for this. In the general stage of the Champions League, Parisians beat Tottenham (5:3) and drew with Newcastle (1:1). It was from the game against black and white that Safonov gained a foothold in the status of PSG's main goalkeeper in the Champions League. And then there was a triumphant march to the playoffs, where the Parisians played five times against the representatives of the Premier League: against Chelsea." (5:2, 3:0) in the 1/8 finals, against Liverpool" (2:0, 2:0) in 1/4 and against Arsenal in the final, where PSG turned out to be stronger following the results of the penalty shootout.

It turns out that for the period from November 26, 2025, Aston Villa will become PSG's sixth Premier League opponent in European competitions.

The main trump card of Aston Villa

Aston Villa will play in the UEFA Super Cup as the winner of the Europa League, where it made its way from sixth place in the Premier League at the end of the 2024/25 season.

At the general stage of the second most important European cup, Aston Villa took second place, scoring the same number of points as Lyon, which was on the first line (21). Starting in the playoffs immediately from the 1/8 finals, the British gradually passed the French Lille." (1:0, 2:0), Italian "Bologna" (3:1, 4:0) and the compatriots from Nottingham Forest" (0:1, 4:0). In the final, they defeated the German Freiburg 3-0 and won the first UEFA Cup in their history. But not the first European Cup in general.

Prior to that, Villa had won the European Champions Cup (the predecessor of the Champions League) and the UEFA Super Cup (both in 1982), as well as the Intertoto Cup (2001, 2008). However, the last "title" was rather formal. The tournament was held according to a very strange system, in which there was no final match — the 11 winners of the third round, who received tickets to the second qualifying round of the UEFA Cup 2008/09, were considered "triumphant". The official champion of that tournament was Portuguese Braga as the team with the best result among all participants in the UEFA Cup (1/8 finals).

Birmingham's pre-season training consisted of six test matches: they defeated Walsall (5:0), lost to Porto (1:2) and Real Sociedad (2:4), after which they beat the national team of Indonesian stars (3:1) and Pathum United (3:1). And it all ended with a defeat against Bayern Munich (1:2).

There are enough top-class players in the current Aston Villa squad that PSG should be wary of. These are the 2022 World champion, Argentine goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, defenders Ezri Konsa and Pau Torres, midfielders Joao Gomez, Alejandro Garnacho, Evann Gessan and Leon Bailey, as well as forwards Ollie Watkins and Tammy Abraham.

Aston Villa's main ace up their sleeve is their head coach. 54—year-old Spaniard Unai Emery is the real "king of the Europa League". He won the trophy three times in a row with Sevilla, and once each with Villarreal and Aston Villa. The trophies are drawn to him like a magnet, so PSG will have to try to prevent another triumph.

However, it is the UEFA Super Cup that Emery will not succumb to — his teams have played in the finals three times and lost three times — Sevilla lost first to Real Madrid (2014), then Barcelona (2015), and Villarreal to Chelsea (2021).

Safonov may have a new competitor.

Matvey Safonov is still PSG's main goalkeeper. However, there are various rumors about this position in Paris.

Japanese goalkeeper Zion Suzuki may join the team at the 2026 World Cup. So far, the player of the Italian "Parma" is estimated at €35 million. It is also reported that after the purchase, PSG will immediately lease Suzuki to Juventus. But clearly with an eye on the role of the first number one in a year. In this case, Safonov's future at the club may be uncertain. Although so far it seems that in this whole story, the other goalkeeper of Parisians, Luc Chevalier, who has already lost his place at the base, will not be lucky.

In the upcoming match against Aston Villa, Matvey Safonov can win his tenth trophy during his time in the team. He can add a second UEFA Super Cup to his two Champions League wins, two Ligue 1 league titles, three different domestic French cups and the Intercontinental Cup. But the first one is "his own", obtained as a foundation player — last year PSG beat Tottenham with Chevalier in goal. Now it's Matthew's time.