Kvaratskhelia returns for PSG in UEFA Super Cup vs Aston Villa
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- Kvaratskhelia was named Champions League player of the season as PSG successfully defended their European crown in May, scoring more goals than any player from the play-off round onwards and finishing with the most open-play assists.
- PSG signed Kvaratskhelia from Napoli in January of the previous year, with the Georgian's arrival credited as the catalyst for turning the club into a pressing machine under Luis Enrique.
- Aston Villa face PSG in the UEFA Super Cup in Salzburg on Wednesday, having already been on the receiving end of Kvaratskhelia's dribbling when he tormented Axel Disasi in the first leg of their 2025 Champions League quarter-final.
- Kvaratskhelia inspired Napoli to their first Serie A title in over three decades before his PSG move, earning the 'Kvaradona' nickname by dispelling the myth that only Maradona could deliver that trophy to Naples.
- Georgia's failure to qualify for the 2026 World Cup gave Kvaratskhelia his first summer off in years, but complicates his Ballon d'Or hopes with World Cup-winning Spaniards, Kylian Mbappe, and Harry Kane all in contention.
- Leonid Slutsky, Kvaratskhelia's former coach at Rubin Kazan, described his 'abnormal thinking' on the pitch, while Xisco Munoz attributed the Georgian's street-ball style to growing up playing football in Tbilisi.
- Marquinhos twice lifted the Champions League trophy for PSG, Desire Doue and Vitinha won man-of-the-match awards in the finals, and Ousmane Dembele claimed the Ballon d'Or for last season's triumph.
Why it matters: Kvaratskhelia is the first player since Kevin Keegan in a non-World Cup year to mount a serious Ballon d'Or challenge without a major tournament stage, and with PSG chasing a three-peat, the Super Cup is his only platform to outshine the Spain-, Mbappe-, and Kane-led World Cup narrative before the September ceremony.
Ask SkimNews
