Aston Villa fans did not know it at the time, but despite the pain of falling out of Champions League at the time, the ensuing PSG win only heightens the Villa Park, second-leg performance. To be clear, this is not a victory for Villa. Instead, seeing how the rest of the competition played out and how the Ligue 1 side dominated in Munich against Inter Milan should illustrate how close AVFC really is.
The goal around the 62-minute mark of the CL final was a work of spectacular play. Watching Désiré Doué, Vitinha, and Ousmane Dembélé combine in the opposition half and look like the most dangerous attacking side in Europe is something that AVFC experienced firsthand.
It was not too long ago, however, when Villa won the Villa Park fixture and nearly forced the quarter-final matchup to go to extra time. Instead, PSG held on, but in terms of asking the most questions and providing a moment of doubt, only AVFC provided a moment like that for Luis Enrique.
Another notable aspect of how the match played out was that Villa were forced to chase the result during the second half. Despite opening up, however, they managed to contain and limit PSG enough to provide the second-leg win and near aggregate comeback.
By contrast, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scampered free and provided a late fourth goal. The French side then added a fifth for good measure while keeping the clean sheet.
Looking back, Aston Villa faired extremely well
It is unknown what could have been had Villa found a way to sneak one last attempt past Gianluigi Donnarumma or if the late goal at Parc des Princes had not provided as steep of a path for Unai Emery's men.
In any event, PSG proved their class on the global stage and deserved to be crowned Champions League winners. The Ligue 1, Coupe de France, and CL winners showed their class throughout 2024-2025. Villa are not too far behind and are within striking distance of the current best team in Europe.