Aston Villa continued their dream debut Champions League campaign as Marco Asensio sent them on their way to a quarter-final with his parent club Paris St Germain.
Asensio climbed off the bench to score a second-half double as Villa won their last-16 tie with Club Brugge 6-1 on aggregate after a 3-0 second-leg victory at Villa Park.
Ian Maatsen also got on the scoresheet as Villa hit three goals in 11 minutes after the break against the Belgian side, who were playing with 10 men following the 17th-minute dismissal of Kyriani Sabbe.
Into the next round 🤩 #UCL pic.twitter.com/qFRux7AJjQ
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) March 12, 2025
In Asensio they have the man for the big occasion and, with players of his quality at their disposal, Villa are dreaming of the impossible – a repeat of their 1982 European Cup triumph.
Before that, though, the Spaniard will be able to provide intelligence on Villa’s next mission as he is on loan at Villa from PSG.
A two-legged tie with Liverpool’s conquerors awaits next month, which will be a first return to the Parc des Princes for boss Unai Emery, but for now Villa can bask in the glory of another famous European night in front of the watching Prince William.
They are through to the last eight of the premier European club competition for the first time since their 1983 European Cup run was ended at the same stage by Juventus and who knows how far they can go this time around.
Villa did the heavy lifting with a 3-1 win in last week’s first leg in Belgium, which left Brugge aiming to become just the second team in the Champions League era to progress through a knockout round having lost the first leg by two goals.
History was against them and their odds lengthened significantly in the 17th minute when they were reduced to 10 men.
Emiliano Martinez’s long kick perfectly found Marcus Rashford’s clever run and the on-loan forward was dragged back by Sabbe on the edge of the area.
Referee Daniel Siebert produced the red card and their punishment was almost doubled from the resulting free-kick when Simon Mignolet was unsighted from Youri Tieleman’s free-kick but was able to scoop the ball away from safety.
It was not until the second half that Villa were able to take full control and two half-time substitutes combined to give them the lead in the 50th minute.
Leon Bailey’s cute pass found Asensio and he again proved his worth with a clinical finish into the roof of the net.
Marco Asensio extends Aston Villa''s lead to 4-1 on aggregate, just 4️⃣ minutes after entering the pitch 💥
He''s now scored 6 goals in 8 games for the club 🤩
📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/HXexgw3ca3
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) March 12, 2025
The Spaniard should have made it two soon after as Tieleman’s precise ball sent him clear but he hit the post.
Villa did double their lead in the 57th minute when Maatsen turned in Morgan Rogers’ cross, with the goal surviving a VAR check.
Rashford’s burgeoning relationship with Asensio continued four minutes later as the on-loan Manchester United man unselfishly squared for his team-mate to sweep into an empty net, the fourth time the pair have combined.
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