Aston Villa were 75 seconds away from something quite OK, but then it all changed. PSG were fabulous and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was absolutely spellbinding, writes IAN LADYMAN

Aston Villa were 75 seconds away from something quite satisfactory here. Outplayed, often overwhelmed and sometimes under siege, Unai Emery’s players were nevertheless in this game at 2-1 down and therefore in this tie as we moved on through three minutes of added time.

A one-goal deficit to take back to Villa Park for next week’s second leg would have bred hope and optimism and a sense of anticipation. There would have been talk of a famous European night in the offing.

But one of the beauties of two-legged football is how quickly it can change, how one moment can fundamentally shift the psychological and emotional feel of a tie. That is pretty much what happened here in front of a French crowd that wears its desperation for a European title so nakedly it sometimes feels as though one can taste it in the air.

It seemed strange that only three minutes had been added on by the Italian officials. There had been stoppages and the usual raft of substitutions. But three it was and Villa seemed to be edging comfortably through them when a sharp pass through the heart of the Villa defence by Ousmane Dembele sent Nuno Mendes clear.

The Portuguese full-back – bullied embarrassingly off the ball by John McGinn as Villa had taken a surprising first half lead – had much to do as he eased down the left hand side. He was coming from an angle and Villa had some defensive cover. But the feint he put on Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez got rid of him and indeed defender Pau Torres and after that he had only an empty goal to aim at from a matter of yards. He didn’t miss.

So now it does indeed feel different. Now the odds are heavily in favour of PSG. They are not a team without weakness and Villa will know they can trouble them with the ball. But it is almost impossible to see a team as potent as this one not scoring at least one of their own in Birmingham and that, fundamentally, is where their power lies.

Villa cannot say they were hard done by. PSG were just fabulous and exhilarating to watch whenever they poured forward. This, at times, was less a football match and more an exercise in survival for Villa, their defensive line standing like a white sea wall desperately trying to repel PSG’s crashing waves of blue.

PSG’s Georgian wide player Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was absolutely spellbinding while the French teenager Desire Doue was similar. They scored the two PSG goals either side of half-time that drove the French champions in to the lead after Morgan Rogers had somehow given Villa an advantage with a rare attack against the head in the 35th minute.

Those two PSG goals were fabulous. Breathtakingly powerful, they summed up the way Luis Enrique’s team approached this match. There was so much conviction about PSG’s attacking play, they simply presented as a team who do not wish to be denied this season.

They should have been ahead early. Kvaratskhelia could have had a penalty when Boubacar Kamara fouled him but Dembele moved on to the rebound and Martinez touched his drive over. Danger came at Villa from everywhere, particularly from wide overloads. Villa had Marcus Rashford up front to give them an out ball on the counter but Emery’s players just couldn’t get hold of it.

PSG were happy to work their chances inside the penalty area or shoot from distance. Martinez saved a couple and others were blocked. And then, remarkably, Villa scored.

McGinn was the architect, robbing Mendes like a street mugger. His lateral pass right to left to Rashford opened up space and when Youri Tielemans was fed on the overlap, his low cross was converted at the far post by Rogers.

Liverpool did this to PSG here as well but their goal came much later. Here, PSG had time to respond and did so almost immediately. Martinez fumbled a shot to concede a corner and when the ball was recycled over to the near side, Doue curled a quite special goal in off the underside of the bar from 20 yards.

It was a fabulous goal and the 19-year-old almost scored again four minutes later, finding space to work Martinez above his head and then driving another shot over. As we reached half-time, normal service had very much been resumed and early in the second period PSG skewered Villa again.

Villa had replaced Matt Cash – booked early and struggling – with Axel Disasi but Kvaratskhelia ran past him like he wasn’t there down the left side before delivering a smothering drive high above Martinez and in to the roof of the net at the near post.

Could Martinez have done better? No keeper likes to be beaten there. But before asking the Argentinean if he could have saved it, you may wish to ask him if he actually saw it. Speed and power were the key ingredients.

So Villa were now hanging on and it felt like a long way home. PSG were rampant, like liquid gold in blue.

Fed by Dembele in the 56th minute, the magnificent Kvaratskhelia had a shot blocked by Disasi. He then put a George Best feint on Rogers to race upfield. Martinez dived low to push away the shot from Achrat Hakimi that followed.

Villa were in the washing machine but almost made it out alive. A minute or so from safety, they seemed to have drawn the sting from PSG. They hadn’t.