Who: Paris Saint-Germain vs Aston Villa
What: UEFA Super Cup
Where: Salzburg Stadium in Austria
When: Wednesday, August 12 at 9pm (19:00 GMT)
How to follow: Al Jazeera will have all the build-up from 16:00 GMT.
Barely three weeks after the World Cup final, the first trophy of the new European football season is up for grabs in the UEFA Super Cup between Paris Saint-Germain and Aston Villa in Salzburg.
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The annual match between the most recent winners of the Champions League and Europa League offers PSG, winners of the former, the chance to become the second team in the modern era to retain the Super Cup, after Real Madrid (2016 and 2017).
PSG beat Tottenham in a penalty shootout in last year’s match.
Al Jazeera takes a closer look at this year’s season opener.
How are PSG shaping up for the new season?
PSG’s players came back to preseason training in scattered order over the off-season, largely depending on how long they played at the World Cup – or not at all in one noteworthy case.
Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele, who stood out for France with six goals and two assists, returned on Monday along with international teammates Desire Doue and Bradley Barcola. They were joined by Spain’s World Cup-winning midfielder Fabian Ruiz, whose clinical performance was key to the semifinal victory against France.
Star winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia did not play at the tournament because Georgia did not qualify, and has been back training for considerably longer. He looks certain to start in his favoured position on the left flank, with new signing Maghnes Akliouche possibly on the right wing.
Akliouche’s arrival from Monaco could coincide with Barcola’s departure, with the fleet-footed winger – who scored three goals at the World Cup – heavily linked with a move to Premier League giant Liverpool.
Coach Luis Enrique’s team may also feature former Villa player Lucas Digne.
Villa sold Digne to PSG on Sunday for a reported fee of 10 million euros ($11.6m), returning the 33-year-old left back to one of his first clubs.
Digne was among the first signings when PSG began its new era after being bought by Qatari investors QSI.
He was born in the Paris suburbs and joined PSG in 2013 from Lille. He then represented Roma and Barcelona before spending eight years in the Premier League with Everton and Villa, where he played 182 games in total and was one of coach Unai Emery’s most consistent players.
How will Unai Emery cope with losing key Villa midfielders?
There will be a different look to Villa at the start of its fourth full season under Emery, a former PSG coach.
Departing in the off-season were key midfielders Morgan Rogers to Chelsea and Youri Tielemans to Manchester United, along with Digne.
Among the new signings are Swiss World Cup star Johan Manzambi and Brazilian midfielder Joao Gomes, who has joined from relegated Wolverhampton. Manzambi is missing because of a knee injury.
Villa won the Europa League by beating Freiburg 3-0 in the final and will be in the Champions League for the second time under Emery.
What happened the last time PSG played Aston Villa?
Aston Villa were 3-2 winners in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League match-up between the sides last season.
The result was not enough to overturn PSG’s 3-1 advantage from the first match.
Those matches were the only times the clubs have met.
What is the prediction for the PSG-Villa Super Cup match?
The Opta supercomputer backed PSG to come out on top – they won in 90 minutes across 45 percent of 10,000 pre-match simulations.
Villa were afforded a 29.6 percent chance of victory in normal time, while the draw – and extra time, plus possible penalties – came in at 25.5 percent.
PSG vs Aston Villa – stat attack
Emery has lost all three of his previous UEFA Super Cup matches; Luis Enrique has won both of his.
PSG are looking to become just the fourth team to retain the Super Cup.
Why is the referee for the Super Cup of such interest?
The match offers another chance for more grandstanding by UEFA at the expense of FIFA at a time of a growing disconnect between the two powerful football governing bodies in light of the recent conduct of Gianni Infantino.
That is because refereeing the game will be Omar Artan, the Somali referee who was barred by the United States from officiating at the World Cup days before the start of the tournament because of vetting concerns. US officials claimed Artan had connections to terror organisations, though without providing proof.
UEFA responded by picking Artan – a referee judged the best in Africa last season – to take charge of the Super Cup, a move that was widely celebrated in the football community and also was regarded as a clever political ploy by the European association.
The disharmony between UEFA and FIFA has increased since, with UEFA leading the campaign to oust Infantino from the FIFA presidency over his recently aborted plan to sell an interest in the World Cup.
Paris Saint-Germain team news
Barcola, Dembele, Dou, Ruiz, Achraf Hakimi, Lucas Hernandez, Warren Zaire-Emery are all doubts due to fitness issues for PSG.
Paris Saint-Germain predicted lineup
Safonov; Zabarnyi, Marquinhos, Willian Pacho, Nuno Mendes; Joao Neves, Vitinha, Dro Fernandez; Mbaye, Mayulu, Kvaratskhelia
Aston Villa team news
Villa are missing a plethora of names for the match, with Leon Bailey (muscular), Johan Manzambi (knee), Amadou Onana (knee) all out. Alejandro Garnacho (facial), John McGinn (knee), and Emiliano Konsa, Emiliano Martinez and Ollie Watkins (all fitness) doubtful.
Aston Villa predicted lineup
Bizot; Cash, Lindelof, Pau Torres, Maatsen; Joao Gomes, Kamara; McGinn, Buendía, Garnacho; Abraham