Ligue 1 and the UEFA Super Cup: A history
When Paris Saint-Germain take on Aston Villa in Salzburg, they will have the opportunity to achieve something only two clubs have managed before them: win consecutive UEFA Super Cups.
AC Milan did so in 1989 and 1990, before Real Madrid repeated the feat in 2016 and 2017. PSG could now join that exclusive list, having beaten Tottenham Hotspur to lift the trophy for the first time in 2025.
Yet the history of Ligue 1 clubs in the competition is surprisingly short. Despite France producing European Cup finalists stretching back to Stade de Reims in the 1950s, PSG remain the only French club ever to have actually appeared in the UEFA Super Cup.
Marseille and the Super Cup that never was
Olympique de Marseille became the first French club to win the European Cup when Basile Boli's header earned them a 1-0 victory over AC Milan in Munich in May 1993.
Ordinarily, that success would have sent OM into the following UEFA Super Cup against Cup Winners' Cup holders Parma. Marseille, however, were subsequently barred from European competition following the VA-OM match-fixing affair.
As a result, European Cup runners-up Milan took Marseille's place. The Rossoneri were eventually beaten 2-1 on aggregate by Parma, meaning France's first European champions never had the chance to compete for the Super Cup. It would take another three years before a French club finally appeared in the competition.
PSG's painful first taste
That opportunity arrived after PSG defeated Rapid Vienna 1-0 in Brussels to win the 1996 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, with Bruno N'Gotty scoring the decisive goal. Their reward was a meeting with European champions Juventus.
It proved to be one of the most difficult nights in the club's European history. Juventus won the first leg 6-1 at the Parc des Princes, with Raí's second-half penalty providing Paris' only response. The Brazilian scored from the spot again in the return fixture, but Juventus won 3-1 in Palermo to complete a 9-2 aggregate victory.
The seven-goal margin remains the largest aggregate defeat in UEFA Super Cup history. PSG would have to wait almost three decades for another opportunity.
From Udine glory to another shot at history
After winning their first Champions League title in 2025, PSG returned to the Super Cup against Europa League winners Tottenham Hotspur in Udine. This time, the story could hardly have been more different.
Trailing 2-0 late in the game, Paris produced a remarkable comeback. Lee Kang-in pulled one back in the 85th minute before Gonçalo Ramos equalised in the fourth minute of added time. PSG then won the resulting penalty shootout 4-3, with Nuno Mendes converting the decisive kick.
It made PSG the first French club ever to lift the UEFA Super Cup, 29 years after their heavy defeat against Juventus. One year later, they are back again.
After defending their Champions League crown in 2025/26, Luis Enrique's side face Aston Villa, winners of last season's Europa League, at Stadion Salzburg. The two clubs are already familiar opponents after PSG edged their 2024/25 Champions League quarter-final 5-4 on aggregate.
Villa are also seeking their second Super Cup, having beaten Barcelona over two legs in 1982. For PSG, though, Wednesday offers another opportunity to push French football into territory it has rarely occupied in this competition. From Marseille's absent date with Parma, through the humiliation of 1996 and the drama of Udine, the Super Cup has remained an unusually Parisian affair. A second successive victory would make that history considerably richer.
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