Unai Emery returns as Aston Villa contest Sevilla's Antonio Puerta Trophy
October 2, 2026 17:31
Aston Villa will walk out at Sevilla's Ramón Sanchez-Pizjuán stadium on Friday evening to play for the Antonio Puerta Trophy, a memorial friendly held in honour of the former Sevilla academy graduate.
KEY CONTEXT
The trophy was created a year after Antonio Puerta's death. Puerta collapsed during a La Liga match against Getafe in August 2007 after suffering a cardiac arrest; he initially appeared to recover and walked to the dressing room but collapsed again and died three days later in hospital. He made his first-team debut in 2003-04, went on to make 88 appearances for Sevilla and won one cap for Spain in 2006. He helped Sevilla win five trophies in 15 months, including two consecutive UEFA Cups.
This edition is the 15th staging of the Antonio Puerta Trophy and Aston Villa are the first English club to be invited. Sevilla have won 12 of the previous 14 editions; only Granada and Boca Juniors have beaten them in the fixture. The early editions featured Spanish opponents before overseas teams were invited — Boca Juniors were the first non-Spanish visitors in 2016, followed by Roma, Schalke, Independiente del Valle, Al-Ittihad and Al-Qadsiah.
RETURN TO RÁMON SANCHEZ-PIZJUÁN
Villa manager Unai Emery will return to the stadium where he managed Sevilla between 2013 and 2016, a period in which he won the Europa League three times in succession.
SQUAD NOTES
Villa's Leon Goretzka has travelled to Sevilla after a knee injury and could be available to play. Striker Brian Madjo is also available after being out since Villa's 2-1 loss to Paris St-Germain in the UEFA Super Cup in August, and Taylor Harwood-Bellis will look to get more minutes.