How did Marcus Rashford and Aston Villa stars fare in L’Equipe’s notorious ratings after Champions League defeat by PSG in front of Prince William

French newspapers are revelling in Paris Saint-Germain’s seismic victory over Aston Villa in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday, lauding how PSG ‘completely dominated’ the Premier League side with ‘magnificent ease’.

Nuno Mendes landed a devastating blow in stoppage time at the Parc des Princes to give PSG a 3-1 lead ahead of next week’s second leg at Villa Park, capping off an excellent comeback after Morgan Rogers scored for the visitors in the first half.

Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia also netted on the night for the French giants, each scoring superb individual goals to help PSG gain full control — to the dismay of lifelong Aston Villa fan Prince William who was watching on from the stands.

French football newspaper L’Equipe heaped praise on the PSG pair by handing them 8/10 and 7/10 scores respectively on the night, labelling Doue’s long-distance equaliser a ‘pure masterpiece’ and Kvaratskhelia’s performance a ‘feast for the eyes’.

The front page of the newspaper on Thursday morning read, ‘Strokes of genius’, accompanied with a jubilant image of Doue and Kvaratskhelia embracing at the Parc des Princes.

In the match report, L’Equipe wrote that Aston Villa were ‘completely dominated’ by Luis Enrique’s side — and that the Parisians ‘romped to victory with magnificent ease’.

Nuno Mendes netted late in Paris to hand his PSG side full control ahead of the second leg

Le Figaro Sport used the word ‘stunning’ to describe PSG’s performance on their front page

While revelling in PSG’s success, the outlet blasted Aston Villa with a series of brutal ratings, with Jacob Ramsey and Matty Cash picking up scores of just 3/10.

Criticising Cash’s display, L’Equipe said: ‘The right-back had clearly been targeted as the weak point in Villa’s defense. And rightly so. Struggling from kickoff until his exit, he was unable to win a duel and showed signs of nervousness with the ball.’

Cash, who was substituted by Unai Emery at half-time after being shown a yellow card in the 17th minute, was replaced by Axel Disasi — who was also handed a grim 3/10 off the bench.

Meanwhile, the newspaper wrote of how Ramsey ‘struggled to exist offensively’ and blamed him for the concession of Kvaratskhelia’s goal shortly after the break.

Unimpressed by Emery’s tactics, L’Equipe lacerated the Spanish boss with a 3/10 rating.

‘His team refused to play and was understandably punished. Furthermore, the Spanish coach failed to find any solutions to secure his team’s right wing,’ his rating read.

Marcus Rashford, John McGinn and Ezri Konsa were given just 4/10, while Youri Tielemans, Boubacar Kamara, Pau Torres and Emiliano Martinez earned 5/10 ratings.

According to L’Equipe, Aston Villa’s best players on the night were goal-scorer Rogers and French left-back Lucas Digne, who each picked up 6/10 scores.

Villa fan Prince William endured an emotional rollercoaster as he watched on from the stands

Aston Villa’s Jacob Ramsey (left) was blasted with a brutal 3/10 score by the French outlet

Villa right-back Matty Cash was given the same rating before his substitution at half time

Meanwhile, fellow French newspaper Le Monde led with the headline, ‘PSG dodge Villa’s trap in style’, and claimed the Ligue 1 giants are making a ‘trademark’ out of turning around difficult situations after conceding the first goal on Wednesday.

PSG dramatically came from behind on aggregate in their round of 16 tie against Premier League leaders Liverpool last month, scoring at Anfield to force extra time and win on penalties. 

According to French outlet 20 minutes, PSG scored ‘three masterpieces to be exhibited at the Louvre’ against Aston Villa, waxing lyrical about the brilliance of the goals scored by Doue, Kvaratskhelia and Mendes.

‘PSG won in style at the Parc des Princes against Aston Villa by scoring three goals, each one as beautiful as the last,’ the first line read.

Le Figaro Sport used the word ‘stunning’ to describe PSG’s performance on their front page and heaped praise on the French giants for ‘putting on a show’ at the Parc des Princes.

Emery defiantly urged that his side have not lost belief ahead of the second leg at Villa Park next Tuesday, still confident that they can reach the Champions League semi-finals.

‘More or less the expectation I had before the match happened,’ he told TNT Sports after the game. ‘[There is] not a lot of difference between 2 and 3-1 as we will play at home next week. 

Marcus Rashford was among those to receive 4/10 ratings after an ineffective performance

L’Equipe praised Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia by giving them 8/10 and 7/10 ratings

Unai Emery defiantly urged that his Aston Villa side have not lost belief ahead of the second leg

‘It will still be a huge challenge for us but we can feel strong at home with our supporters. We needed to be defensively strong, lower than normal, but even when we were losing we had a free approach.

‘[There were] two shots from Morgan [Rogers] and one of Marco Asensio, the last goal, OK, but our mind is not changing a lot because we have to win at home now.’

‘The first half we had three or four chances to get in the box,’ he continued. ‘We knew before the match we needed to be clinical as well. We were in the first half but not second, we tried to show our power.

‘PSG like to keep possession, but today we were more in a low block, at home maybe we can change. Hopefully we can get more moments to keep our momentum and possession.

‘We are going to try and combat the result. We believe in Villa Park and that our players can give the performances.’