Qudus Salihu
Asensio and Maatsen seal Aston Villa’s place in Champions League quarter-finals – reaction
Key moments
Updated 1 minute ago61 mins (3-0)GOAL! Asensio has his second and Villa’s third57 mins (2-0)GOAL! Maatsen doubles Villa’s lead on the night54 mins (1-0)Huge chance! Asensio hits the post50 mins (1-0)GOAL! Asensio breaks the deadlock17 mins (0-0)RED CARD! Sabbe dismissed as he pulls down Rashford
Unai Emery and Marco Asensio will return to Paris St-Germain in the quarter-finals of the Champions League after Aston Villa comfortably saw off 10-man Club Brugge in front of Prince William.
Leading 3-1 from the first leg, Villa eased their way into the last eight with a 3-0 home success thanks to two goals from half-time substitute Asensio and one from Ian Maatsen.
Asensio is on loan at Villa from PSG until the end of the season, but, according to Uefa rules, can play against his parent club in the Champions League.
The Spaniard has now scored seven goals for Villa under Emery, who spent two seasons in charge at PSG where he never got further than the round of 16.
Another Villa loanee Marcus Rashford made a big impact by setting up one of Asensio’s goals and drawing the first-half foul which earned Brugge defender Kyriani Sabbe a red card.
Prince William, who is a Villa fan, was among the home crowd wearing one of the free scarves handed out by the club around his neck.
Rashford will now be hoping that his performances at Villa so far have impressed England manager Thomas Tuchel, who names his first squad on Friday. But Tuchel will have to check on the fitness of striker Ollie Watkins, who went off at half-time.
Super-sub Asensio
Marco Asensio has now scored seven goals in his last five games in all competitions and has found the back of the net in three consecutive appearances for the first time since April 2021.
His tally of 12 Champions League goals as a substitute is higher than any other player in the competition.
‘The Championship feels like a long time ago’, says McGinn
Aston Villa defender Tyrone Mngs John McGinn has told TNT Sports: “It’s good. Tough to put into words. When you’re in it, it’s hard to take it in and appreciate it, the level we’re playing at. The bar keeps raising. The Championship feels like a long time ago. I’m really enjoying the journey.
“It’s important for them [Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio] to come in and buy into it. They come with big reputations. For them to come in, hit the ground coming, buy into the group and show their quality is so impressive.
“We didn’t get it right in the first half. It’s important to stay calm and try to figure it out at half-time.
“His experience is so valuable. The ancedotes he gives us are so important to give us a reality check on how much work still needs to be done.
“Of course [he watched the PSG game yesterday], what else was I meant to be doing? Very tough game. We’re so excited. We play in the toughest league in the world. When it comes to the Champions League, we’ll go there and give a good account of ourselves. We’ll enjoy every moment but we have a lot of firepower and quality ourselves.”
Qudus Salihu
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