Why Aston Villa are playing Sevilla for a trophy you haven't heard of

What the report says

Aston Villa are due to face Sevilla at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán Stadium in the Antonio Puerta Trophy, a pre-season friendly that carries strong symbolic meaning in Spanish football. The match is part of Sevilla’s annual tribute to Antonio Puerta, an academy graduate who died in 2007 after suffering a cardiac arrest during a La Liga game against Getafe.

According to BBC Sport Football, the trophy was created by Sevilla a year after Puerta’s death and has since become a regular fixture in the club’s calendar. Puerta made 88 appearances for Sevilla and one for Spain, and he was part of a successful period in which the club won multiple honours, including back-to-back Uefa Cups. The report notes that this year’s meeting is the 15th edition of the trophy and the first time an English club has been invited to take part.

The article says Villa’s involvement is notable because of the link with manager Unai Emery, who previously coached Sevilla and won the Europa League there three times in a row. Sevilla have won most editions of the trophy, with only a small number of visiting sides beating them in the past. The piece also mentions that several Villa players, including Leon Goretzka, Brian Madjo and Taylor Harwood-Bellis, are available for selection, although it frames that as a team update rather than a match forecast.