UEFA release a statement on Marco Asensio facing his parent club

Aston Villa are in the quarter finals of the Champions League after following up their 3-1 first leg victory over Club Brugge with a 3-0 second leg win at Villa Park.

A brace from Marco Asensio and one from Ian Maatsen booked Villa’s place in the last eight of the continent’s top tournament.

It means they’ve positioned themselves almost perfectly for a crack at one of Europe’s biggest teams in the quarter finals; Villa will face Paris Saint Germain after they beat Liverpool on penalties at Anfield on Tuesday evening.

Asensio has now scored seven goals in eight appearances since he joined the club on a loan basis in the winter transfer window – from PSG.

It would appear as though Asensio has little future in the French capital where, for the time being, he has another year remaining on his contract with the Ligue 1 giants.

Ask Unai Emery, or the average Villa fan on the street and, such is the impact the Spaniard has already made, they’d tell you they’d love to see him return in the summer.

Now it’s Villa v PSG in the quarter finals, can Asensio play against his parent club? The answer, in a word, is yes.

While in the Premier League loanees can’t play against their parent clubs – Axel Disasi didn’t feature against Chelsea, nor will Marcus Rashford against Manchester United in May – but in Europe UEFA’s rules are different.

UEFA’s rules outline that clubs cannot apply “any influence whatsoever over the players that another club may (or may not) field in a match”.

Samuel Iling-Junior played against Villa earlier this season for Bologna, while there are other examples down the years of players playing – and having an impact – against their parent clubs, including Philippe Coutinho scoring twice in Bayern Munich’s 8-2 win over Barcelona in 2019/20.

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