Aston Villa will face Sevilla on Friday evening at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan stadium in the Antonio Puerta Trophy, a friendly match established to honor the Sevilla academy graduate who passed away in August 2007. Puerta died at the age of 22 following a cardiac arrest during a La Liga match against Getafe, which shocked the Spanish football community. Initially recovering and walking to the dressing room, he collapsed again and died three days later in hospital.
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Puerta made his debut for the Sevilla first team in the 2003-04 season and played 88 matches for the club, as well as representing Spain once in 2006. During his short career, he helped Sevilla secure five trophies in 15 months, including two consecutive UEFA Cups, now known as the Europa League. A year following his death, Sevilla established the Antonio Puerta Trophy, which has since become a recurring event in their pre-season schedule.
This year's match marks the 15th edition of the trophy and is notable as Aston Villa is the first English club invited to participate. The connection is further emphasized by Villa manager Unai Emery, who returns to the stadium where he achieved significant success between 2013 and 2016, winning the Europa League three times.
Sevilla has historically dominated this event, winning 12 of the previous 14 editions. Only Granada and Boca Juniors have managed to defeat them in this fixture. The early versions of the trophy were contested solely among Spanish teams before international clubs began to be invited. Boca Juniors were the first overseas challengers in 2016, followed by teams like Roma, Schalke, and Independiente del Valle.
Villa's Leon Goretzka has traveled to Sevilla following a knee injury and may be available to play. Striker Brian Madjo returns after being sidelined since Villa's 2-1 loss to Paris St-Germain in the UEFA Super Cup last August. Additionally, Taylor Harwood-Bellis aims to gain more playing time.