Aston Villa are through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League as Marco Asensio inspired them to beat 10-player Club Brugge 3-0 to secure a 6-1 aggregate win.
The game was goalless at the break despite Kyriani Sabbe’s early red card but Asensio came off the bench to score either side of a goal by Ian Maatsen as Villa took the game away from their opponents and set up a clash with Paris Saint-Germain in the last eight.
Club Brugge began the game positively in search of an unlikely comeback but hopes were all but dashed when Emiliano Martinez’s long ball over the top sent Marcus Rashford through and full-back Sabbe made the mistake of pulling him back.
Down to 10, the Belgian side continued to have more of the ball with Villa overly cautious, seemingly determined not to be naïve. But Unai Emery’s positive half-time changes, introducing Asensio and Leon Bailey, brought instant reward.
Bailey found Asensio who crashed the ball into the roof of the net and the sense of relief was palpable. The Spaniard hit the post soon after, before Maatsen made it two and then Rashford unselfishly set up the on-loan PSG player for his second of the night.
Player of the match: Marco Asensio
Asensio really has been a revelation for Villa. This is the third home game in a row in which he has scored two goals. Having also netted in the away leg of this tie, it is seven goals in his last five appearances for the club, already beloved by the Villa Park crowd.
The attacking midfielder, finally playing in his favoured No 10 role, is now set for a reunion with his PSG team-mates in the quarter-final. Emery’s team will need to up their performance levels to come through that tie. But with Asensio around, do not rule it out.
What next for Villa?
Villa are into the quarter-finals of Europe’s premier club competition for the first time in 42 years and have plenty to look forward to domestically too. Their next fixture is against Preston North End in the FA Cup with a Wembley semi-final on offer to the winner.
Emery’s side find themselves down in ninth in the Premier League table and could fall further given that they do not have a game at the weekend. But they are only four points behind Chelsea in fourth and so still have three routes back into Europe next season.
Emery: Huge challenge against PSG
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery speaking in the press conference:
“Of course, to play the quarter-final is fantastic, very exciting, very motivating. To play against PSG is very difficult. They showed their capacity against Liverpool, the best team in the Premier League, the best team in Europe until yesterday.
“It is a huge challenge for the club, the supporters, the players, the coaches and me as well. For me, it is maybe special because I did not go back there since I left there, going or visiting Paris. I will visit playing against them. It will be fantastic.”
Asked again about PSG, Emery added: “I know the huge potential they have.” The best team in Europe? “Real Madrid? Bayern Munich? Inter? Arsenal? Borussia Dortmund? This is the level and we are at this level. We need to be proud, but we want more…”
Hayen: Asensio has the quality
Club Brugge head coach Nicky Hayen speaking in the press conference:
“We know they have players [like Asensio] who can make a difference, not only in this game but in the previous game.
“It is not the first time he has made good runs, smart runs from deep, we made the mistake of not following them and he has the quality to score.
“In the end, they are more efficient than us and that makes the difference at the highest level.”
McGinn on ‘mad’ rise and ‘frightening’ PSG
Aston Villa captain John McGinn speaking to TNT Sports:
“It’s mad. A lot of years of hard work. We let ourselves down in the first half but they’re a good side. Even with 10 men they were the better side. We’re lucky to have Marco to come off the bench. The second half was brilliant and we deserved to go through.
“It doesn’t get much harder than PSG over two legs. I watched it [Liverpool v PSG] but you don’t want to get too far ahead of yourselves. PSG were frightening over the two legs. It’ll be tough but Aston Villa are Champions League quarter-finalists.
“It’ll be good to have a bit of a break. We have a chance for Wembley in the FA Cup. We want to get back and enjoy these nights next season. What an exciting end to the season we’ve got.
“We’re giving these fans experiences they’ll remember forever. We want to write our names in history and make these nights more frequent.”
Villa’s win in stats
- Aston Villa have become the ninth different English side to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League, the most teams from a single nation to reach this stage of the competition.
- Aston Villa have won seven of their 10 matches in the Champions League this season; only Lazio and Valencia (both eight in 1999-00) have won more games in their debut campaign in the competition.
- Marcos Asensio has scored seven goals in his eight games for Aston Villa; indeed, only Ousmane Dembele (eight) has netted more in Europe’s big-five leagues across all competition since the Spaniard’s debut in February.
- Asensio became the fourth substitute to score a brace for an English club in a Champions League knockout match, and the first since Georginio Wijnaldum for Liverpool against Barcelona in May 2019.
