Champions League conquerors PSG and Europa League winners Aston Villa enter tonight’s Uefa Super Cup showdown at the Red Bull Arena in Salzburg (kick-off 9pm) slightly undercooked.
Most of the two teams’ top players were involved in the World Cup, which finished last month, and only recently rejoined their respective teams for pre-season.
In fact, three of Villa’s stars (Ezri Konsa, Ollie Watkins and Emi Martinez) have not made the trip to Austria as they chase their first silverware of the 2026/27 season.
PSG coach Luis Enrique, meanwhile, said some of his players only returned this week.
But while the teams may be half-baked, the action promises to be anything but.
Villa head coach Unai Emery, who also managed PSG between 2016 and 2018, says tonight’s match represents a “very good” opportunity to win the club its second Super Cup trophy.
The Villans beat Barcelona 3-1 over two legs in the 1982 final, while PSG are also looking to double up after getting the better of Tottenham Hotspur on penalties last season, following a 2-2 draw in regular time.
“Some of our players are only joining the squad later after playing at the World Cup,” Emery told Uefa’s website.
“For four weeks now, we have been working with some young players. But we are motivated, we are excited, we have our game plan and we’re going to try it against the best team in the world now.
“It’s going to be a very good opportunity for us to play for this trophy.”
Villa right-back Matty Cash, who played in both legs when PSG beat them 5-4 on aggregate in the quarter-finals of the 2024/25 Champions League, can’t wait to face the French giants again.
“We’re really excited, it’s a really good opportunity to fight for a trophy,” he said.
“To win the Europa League was really good, it was a target we set out at the start of the season. It brings you to moments like this where you play in Super Cups against the best teams in the world.
“[I’m] really looking forward to it and hopefully we can have a good game.”
Opposing them is a PSG side intent on hoovering up every trophy on offer this season.
“The goal is to keep winning trophies and write history,” PSG’s Brazilian defender Marquinhos told the club website.
He added in an interview with Uefa: “Just because we’ve won plenty of things over the past couple of seasons, that doesn’t mean it’s easy.
“We know that, along the road, there are plenty of obstacles. We’ll be taking it step by step and, first off, we have an objective [in the Super Cup] and that is important.
“Despite not having had too many sessions together, we’re hungry, we want it and we know that objectives and titles are an opportunity and you’ve got to take them.
“You can’t let them pass you by.”
And that is the danger for Villa.
PSG are not in Salzburg simply to make up the numbers or ease themselves into the new season. They are hungry for more, with another trophy already within touching distance.
Villa, meanwhile, have their own chance to turn a disrupted pre-season into a night to remember.
They may not be fully cooked yet.
But with a European trophy on the line, neither side can afford to wait until they are.
dudley.carstens@nationalmg.co.za