Next month he faces them with a place in the Champions League semi-final at stake.
Aston Villa's skipper, 30, reflected on his first and only brush with Luis Enrique’s side. Asked about meeting the French giants, the Scotland star said: “The only place I've been there is the shop.
“I was about seven or eight. We went to France on holiday in a big camper van heading to Disneyland with the family and we stopped off in Paris.
“I remember buying a PSG strip. That was as close as I thought I would ever get to playing against them. It’s a strange one, all right.”
McGinn describes the magnitude of Villa's achievement as “surreal” but while his side understand the size of the challenge ahead they aren't daunted by it.
He added: “When you're playing you don't get time to reflect on what you've done but me and Tyrone Mings had a laugh about it.
“We were part of a roller-coaster season in which we ended up getting promoted.
“Some of us have been here a long time and the supporters who stuck with us through thick and thin - Millwall away getting hammered, Wigan away getting hammered.
“Now we've got a trip to Paris to look forward to in the last eight of the Champions League.
“It's amazing. But we need to take stock, go there and compete. It's one we're really looking forward to. And why not dare to dream? We can carry this journey on.
“No matter whether we got PSG or Liverpool, we'd going in as underdogs. Watching that tie, what I saw was two world-...
Aston Villa's skipper, 30, reflected on his first and only brush with Luis Enrique’s side. Asked about meeting the French giants, the Scotland star said: “The only place I've been there is the shop.
“I was about seven or eight. We went to France on holiday in a big camper van heading to Disneyland with the family and we stopped off in Paris.
“I remember buying a PSG strip. That was as close as I thought I would ever get to playing against them. It’s a strange one, all right.”
McGinn describes the magnitude of Villa's achievement as “surreal” but while his side understand the size of the challenge ahead they aren't daunted by it.
He added: “When you're playing you don't get time to reflect on what you've done but me and Tyrone Mings had a laugh about it.
“We were part of a roller-coaster season in which we ended up getting promoted.
“Some of us have been here a long time and the supporters who stuck with us through thick and thin - Millwall away getting hammered, Wigan away getting hammered.
“Now we've got a trip to Paris to look forward to in the last eight of the Champions League.
“It's amazing. But we need to take stock, go there and compete. It's one we're really looking forward to. And why not dare to dream? We can carry this journey on.
“No matter whether we got PSG or Liverpool, we'd going in as underdogs. Watching that tie, what I saw was two world-...
You're reading a preview of
Daily Record (Digital) - 1 Issue, March 14, 2025