Aston Villa beat Club Brugge 6-1 on aggregate to set up a Champions League quarter-final clash against Paris Saint-Germain, with Unai Emery going up against the club he managed for two seasons
Aston Villa boss Unai Emery
Aston Villa boss Unai Emery (
Image: Cameron Smith - Danehouse/Getty Images)
Neil Moxley
Mission accomplished…now for Mission Impossible.
Or should that be ‘improbable’? With Unai Emery at the helm, frankly, anything is possible as Aston Villa’s incredible rise under the Spaniard hit new heights last night. And who’s to say that Villa - who qualified in the top eight, remember - can’t topple silky French giants Paris St Germain in the quarter-finals?
All right, they might have conquered Premier League leaders Liverpool for a spot in the last eight. But if Luis Enrique thinks a passage to the semi-final is assured, he might like to think again. Villa Park will certainly fancy its chances after an early Club Brugge dismissal took the jeopardy out of this second leg.
It was always going to be a tough ask to overturn this with 11 men. After Marcus Rashford induced a sending-off for Kyriani Sabbe, an upset was never on the cards. And the two-goal advantage was added to as Emery flexed his muscles at half-time to stunning effect.
Within five minutes of the re-start, both interval replacements Leon Bailey and Marco Asensio combined for the ex-Real Madrid man to end the tie as a contest. Seven minutes later, Morgan Rogers set up Ian Maatsen for number two and carnage was on the cards.
Rashford and Rogers then combined to set up Asensio for his second of the night - his seventh in claret and blue - as Club Brugge wilted under the onslaught. The odds were stacked against them prior to kick-off.
Never mind the two-goal deficit they were trying to overturn. The club hadn’t won in England in 14 attempts. However, albeit in different circumstances, the Belgians had defeated Atalanta, last season’s Europa League champions, in Bergamo during the previous round.
Marco Asensio netted a brace against Club Brugge (
Image:
Neal Simpson/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images)
And it was that performance to which boss Nicky Hayen was clinging in the build-up. Villa felt their way into the game. And the first opportunity to draw first blood fell to the visitors.
Skipper Hans Vanaken nipped in front of Tyrone Mings and his header was angled just wide of Emi Martinez’s goal. But that was to be as good as it got for Hayen and his team. A few minutes later came the incident that effectively sealed Villa’s passage.
Rashford was alert to the possibility of a long ball over the top. That the Argentine keeper spotted it was laudable. That he then backed it up by sending a 60-yard pass into the forward’s path. The speed of the Manchester United loanee caught out Sabbe.
Ian Maatsen was also on target in the second leg (
Image:
Charlotte Wilson/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
He was the wrong side of his opponent and put his arm across Rashford, also catching him on the back of the heel. It looked untidy, and referee Daniel Siebert had little option but to reach for his top pocket and produce a red card.
There was never likely to be any reprieve from VAR and the only positive for the Belgians was that the offence was committed just outside the penalty area. Despite the boost of playing against opponents one man down, Villa didn’t show much urgency before the break.
All that changed within a few minutes of the re-start. Asensio scored two and hit the post with a third either side of Maatsen’s goal. Interestingly, he can play against his parent club. It’s a return too, for Emery. Both have unfinished business.
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