Aston Villa lost the Uefa Super Cup 2-1 to Paris St-Germain in Salzburg on Wednesday, a fourth straight defeat in the fixture for Unai Emery after two with Sevilla and one with Villarreal. The result is the least interesting thing about the night. Villa arrived in Austria without three of the players who had gone deepest at the World Cup, in the middle of a summer of selling, and were level with the European champions until the 61st minute because a 17-year-old who had not been allowed to kick a competitive ball for them since January scored.
The 212-day wait
Brian Madjo joined from Metz in January for £10m. Fifa blocked his registration under the rules that bar international transfers for players under 18, and Villa argued he should be exempt because he was born in London. The appeal reached the Court of Arbitration for Sport in July and was upheld eight days before the final, which is how a player signed seven months earlier came to make his competitive debut in a European showpiece. The wait had run to 212 days, and he was not even in the initial squad for Salzburg.
He is 6ft 4in, has three friendly caps for Luxembourg and has since accepted an England call-up, scoring four goals in nine under-17 appearances including one on debut against Venezuela. In pre-season the only Premier League player to outscore him was Chelsea's João Pedro, after goals against Walsall, Real Sociedad and Indonesia All Stars.