Aston Villa comprehensively defeated Club Brugge in the second leg of their round-of-16 tie, securing a 3-0 win on the night.
The away side had a man sent off in the 16th minute, killing their hopes of a comeback which eased the pressure on Unai Emery’s side.
Nonetheless, Villa took advantage of the extra man and, in a 15 minute second half storm, they scored 3 goals to wrap up the tie, sending them comfortably through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
A Marco Asensio double from the bench lit up the Holte End, with Ian Maatsen getting on the scoresheet as well.
The last time Aston Villa hosted Belgian opposition in a major competition was against Anderlecht in April 1982 – the year the_Villans_ famously won the European Cup. After a crucial 3-1 victory in the first leg, Unai Emery’s side welcomed Club Brugge to Villa Park with their sights firmly set on replicating the club’s great European success of the past.
The onus was on Club Brugge to get themselves back into the tie and they showed positive signs of intent by dominating possession in the opening exchanges. Hans Vanaken, who scored the winner between the two sides in the league phase in November, came close to halving the away side’s deficit but his glancing header flashed just past the post.
However, a promising start quickly dampened when the Belgian champions went down to 10 men in the 16th minute. Emiliano Martínez’s pinpoint long ball found Rashford through on goal, forcing Kyriani Sabbe to pull him down. The referee inevitably reached for his pocket and sent the right-back off for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity.
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From the resulting free-kick came Villa’s best chance of the first half. Youri Tielemans’ strike went through the Brugge wall and forced Simon Mignolet to reach down to his right-hand side and parry the ball away. The home side failed to kick into gear in the opening 45 minutes, with a speculative halfway line effort from Ollie Watkins summing up their attacking threat.
Emery recognised his side’s lacklustre performance and sent on Marco Asensio and Leon Bailey at the start of the second half to try and invigorate Villa’s attack. It turned out to be a tactical masterclass as the two players immediately combined to open the scoring. In the 50th minute, Bailey’s cute pass found Asensio in the penalty area, who swivelled and smashed the ball into the roof of the net.
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Asensio almost doubled his and Villa’s tally on the night minutes later. A precise pick out from Tielemans found the Spaniard one-on-one with Mignolet but his effort struck off the post.
Villa were in cruise control but a quick-fire double put the tie beyond doubt. In the 57th minute, Ian Maatsen converted from close range after some excellent footwork from Morgan Rogers on the byline. Villa then made it 3-0 on the hour mark when Marcus Rashford broke down the left to set up Asensio. The PSG-loanee made no mistake this time and fired home his seventh goal for the _Villans_ since signing in January.
An impressive 6-1 victory on aggregate sees Villa ease through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League. They face an in-form Paris Saint-Germain, who dramatically knocked out Liverpool on penalties at Anfield.
**AST:** Martínez; Maatsen, Mings, Konsa, Cash; Tielemans, Kamara; Rashford, Rogers, McGinn; Watkins
**CLU:** Mignolet; De Cuyper, Mechele, Ordónez, Sabbe; Jashari, Onyedika; Tzolis, Vanaken, Talbi; Jutglà