On Friday evening, Aston Villa will walk out at Sevilla's Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan stadium to compete for the Antonio Puerta Trophy, a friendly held in memory of Sevilla academy graduate Antonio Puerta, who died in August 2007 at age 22. Puerta suffered a cardiac arrest during a La Liga match against Getafe and died three days later. He made 88 appearances for Sevilla and one for Spain, helping his team win five trophies in 15 months.
A year after his death, Sevilla created a trophy in his honour. This year's 15th edition is notable because Aston Villa are the first English club invited. Villa boss Unai Emery will return to the stadium where he managed Sevilla between 2013 and 2016, winning the Europa League three times.
Sevilla have won 12 of the previous 14 editions. Boca Juniors became the first overseas opponent in 2016, followed by Roma, Schalke, and others. Villa's Leon Goretzka has travelled after a knee injury. Striker Brian Madjo is available after being out since Villa's 2-1 loss to Paris St-Germain in August, while Taylor Harwood-Bellis will also look for minutes.
Source: BBC Sport Football · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing