Tuesday’s briefing: Villa Park hosts PSG, while Eddie Howe battles pneumonia

Villa Park will take centre stage in Europe on Tuesday night when Aston Villa host Paris St Germain in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final with a 3-1 deficit to overturn.

Bournemouth fans can dream of continental qualification after a much-needed 1-0 Premier League victory at home to Fulham on Monday night.

Elsewhere, it was revealed Newcastle manager Eddie Howe had pneumonia and Luka Modric was announced as a surprise new co-owner of Swansea.

Villa eye historic win

Unai Emery is no stranger to a Paris St Germain collapse in the Champions League and will hope another occurs when Villa entertain the French giants.

Emery was PSG boss when they let a four-goal lead slip against Barcelona in 2017, but also made reference to his Sevilla side in 2014 being able to overturn a 2-0 deficit to Real Betis to clinch Europa League glory when he discussed Villa’s own chances of progression.

Villa’s 3-1 loss last Wednesday at Parc des Princes has left them with an uphill battle but Emery declared: “I have experiences of coming back, positively and negatively. But now it’s something different. We want to write the history with Aston Villa.”

Bournemouth boost European prospects

Bournemouth revitalised their faint Champions League qualification hopes with a 1-0 win over Fulham on Monday night.

The Cherries had slipped out of top-five contention after a poor start to spring, but Antoine Semenyo’s goal after 53 seconds at Vitality Stadium got them back on track and they have now equalled their best league points total of 48.

Victory for Andoni Iraola’s side helped them leapfrog Fulham and move up to eighth to keep within touching distance of the European spots.

Howe will Newcastle cope?

Newcastle’s bid to return to Europe’s premier competition will continue over the next week without boss Howe, who will miss the next two fixtures after being diagnosed with pneumonia.

Howe watched the Magpies’ 4-1 victory over Manchester United on Sunday from his hospital bed after being admitted on Friday evening, having been unwell for several days.

Newcastle have now said Howe will also miss Wednesday’s home match against Crystal Palace and Saturday’s trip to Aston Villa, with assistant Jason Tindall and Graeme Jones due to prepare the team.

Modric is a Jack!

Swansea might begin to dream of European football after Ballon d’Or winner Modric invested in the Sky Bet Championship club.

Real Madrid midfielder Modric has won six Champions League titles after four years at Tottenham earlier in his career and is again associated with British shores after he became co-owner of the Welsh outfit.

The exact amount Modric has invested was not disclosed, but he said: “This is an exciting opportunity. Swansea has a strong identity, an incredible fanbase and the ambition to compete at the highest level.”

What’s on today?

Villa face PSG in an historic Champions League quarter-final at Villa Park where the home faithful will dream of an upset to conjure memories of their 1982 triumph in this competition.

Borussia Dortmund also host Barcelona in the last-eight, but are 4-0 down on aggregate, while Salford take on Doncaster in the solitary EFL action of the night.

Arsenal will warm up for their Women’s Champions League semi-final on Saturday with a Super League fixture at home to Leicester, where England duo Chloe Kelly and Alessia Russo remain absent after recent fitness issues.