Why Aston Villa are playing Sevilla for the Antonio Puerta Trophy

Aston Villa are scheduled to play Sevilla at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán Stadium in Seville on Friday, 2 October, in the 15th Antonio Puerta Trophy, a fixture held in memory of the former Sevilla player who died in 2007. Kick-off is set for 20:30 local time. For Villa, the match also takes manager Unai Emery back to the ground where he won three consecutive Europa League titles.

Sevilla describe Villa as the first English club invited to compete for the trophy. The match is a memorial fixture, rather than a league or European competition game. It gives supporters of both clubs an occasion to remember Puerta while bringing a Premier League opponent to Sevilla's home stadium.

Who was Antonio Puerta?

Puerta was a Sevilla academy graduate who went on to play for the first team. According to UEFA, he collapsed during a match against Getafe on 25 August 2007. He was able to leave the field on foot but suffered further cardiac arrests in the dressing room. He died three days later, aged 22.

His place in Sevilla's history extends beyond the circumstances of his death. Puerta scored an extra-time goal against Schalke in April 2006 that sent Sevilla into its first UEFA Cup final. UEFA described the goal as the beginning of one of the club's most successful periods. BBC Sport reports that Puerta helped Sevilla win five trophies in 15 months, including consecutive UEFA Cups.

Why Aston Villa are this year's opponents

The fixture has developed beyond its early all-Spanish matchups. BBC Sport says Boca Juniors became the first opponent from outside Spain in 2016. Roma, Schalke, Independiente del Valle, Al-Ittihad and Al-Qadsiah have also been invited. Villa's appearance adds an English club to that list for the first time, according to Sevilla and the BBC.

The available accounts establish Villa's invitation but do not set out how Sevilla chooses each opponent. This year's pairing has a clear football connection in Emery. He managed Sevilla from 2013 to 2016, winning the Europa League in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Diario AS framed the match as his return to Nervión, the Sevilla district where the stadium stands.

Emery's return gives the fixture a second strand of history alongside its memorial purpose. Villa supporters will see their manager at a ground associated with the run of European titles that defined his time at Sevilla. For the home club, the occasion places a former manager's visit within a match devoted to remembering one of its own players.

When the match is due to be played

Diario AS listed kick-off at 20:30 at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán and reported that Canal Sur TV would show the match. Its preview, published before Friday's game, said both clubs would be missing several internationals. Villa captain John McGinn was among those AS expected to be absent. Those details were a preview, not a confirmed team sheet.

BBC Sport reported that Leon Goretzka had travelled after a knee injury and could be available, while Brian Madjo was also available and Taylor Harwood-Bellis could get more minutes. Their eventual involvement was not established by the pre-match reporting. The cited accounts likewise establish the scheduled fixture, not its result.

The trophy's significance does not depend on the score. Since the inaugural match against Málaga, Sevilla have used the fixture to keep Puerta's name before supporters and to invite opponents from beyond Spain. Friday's planned match brings that tradition together with Emery's return and Villa's first appearance in it.