'Punished' - French media issue savage Aston Villa player ratings after 3-1 loss to PSG

Aston Villa lost 3-1 away at PSG in the first leg of their Champions League quarter final tie on Wednesday night. Morgan Rogers opened the scoring for the visitors after 35 minutes. However, the hosts equalised shortly after through promising winger Desire Doue.

The Ligue 1 champions then scored twice in the second half through Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Nuno Mendes. They have a healthy two goal lead now as they prepare for the second leg. The French giants head to Villa Park next Tuesday with one foot in the semi-finals. Here is a look at Villa’s player ratings from French news outlet L'Equipe.

Aston Villa’s goalkeeper and defence

Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez was given a 5/10 rating. It ended up being a busy night for the Argentina international as PSG peppered his goal. 2-1 probably wouldn’t have been a bad result for Unai Emery’s side but the third goal may have killed them now.

Matty Cash was handed a 3/10 rating. It was a tricky test for the Poland international up against the likes of Kvaratskhelia and Doue and he struggled to contain them. The latter looks a real talent and will have a bright future ahead of him in the game. On the other side of defence, Lucas Digne was coming up against one of his former teams. He played for PSG from 2013 to 2016, some of which he spent away on loan at Roma. French media gave him a score of 6/10, making him his team’s best rated defender.

Pau Torres and Ezri Konsa were given 5/10 and 4/10 respectively. L'Equipe report that Aston Villa were ‘completely dominated' and that the Parisian’s ‘romped’ to a victory. Emery said afterwards: “More or less, the expectation I had before the match in 90 minutes happened. The result - 2-1 or 3-1 - is not too different because we have the chance at home next week still being huge challenge for us, but we can feel strong at home with our supporters in Villa Park. The match we played today, we needed to adapt to them being strong defensively, playing a very serious match defensively, disciplined, lower than normal.”

Aston Villa’s midfield and attack

Boubacar Kamara and Youri Tielemens were both scored 5/10 in the middle of the park. The latter picked up Aston Villa’s assist for Rogers’ goal with a smart cross. However, the pair were up against two in-form operators in Joao Neves and Vitinho and they were hard to keep track of.

John McGinn was given only 4/10 which seems a little on the harsh side. The skipper had a lot of running to do in midfield and won the ball back for his team’s goal. His performance didn’t seem to impress the French media though and he has been ranked fairly lowly.

Further up the pitch, the goal scorer Rogers has been given 6/10, whilst Manchester United loanee Marcus Rashford got 4/10. Jacob Ramsey was handed just 3/10 and L’Equipe say he 'struggled to exist offensively'. Emery doesn’t believe the tie is over just yet and added: “The match we played here we’re going to extend and we’re going to try to get opportunities to come back the result. We believe in our supporters, we believe in Villa Park and we believe in our players to get their best performances next week.”

L’Equipe ratings in full: Martinez - 7, Cash - 3, Torres - 5, Konsa - 4, Digne - 6, Kamara - 5, Tielemens - 5, McGinn - 4, Rogers - 6, Ramsey - 3, Rashford - 4.