Aston Villa vs Club Brugge LIVE: Champions League result and reaction as Asensio sets up PSG clash

Aston Villa captain John McGinn, who played for the club in the Championship six yards ago, on his side’s progress to the quarter-finals speaks to TNT Sports.

“It’s mad. A lot of years of hard work. It doesn’t get much harder than PSG over two legs. We have important games before that [against Preston in the FA Cup quarter-finals].

“I watched it [Liverpool v PSG] but you don’t want to get too far ahead of yourselves. Villa, Champions League quarter-finalists. Can’t ask for much more.

“We’re giving these fans experiences they’ll remember forever. We want to write our names in history and make these nights more frequent.”

Six years ago, Aston Villa’s April included a trip to Rotherham. Now they will visit Paris next month. Their horizons have broadened, their life got more glamorous. A Championship club in 2019 are Champions League quarter-finalists in 2025.

They will face Paris Saint-Germain in the last eight after a brace from a PSG player, with the benefit that Marco Asensio will be eligible to play his parent club in the Parc des Princes. It is another indication of how far and how fast Villa have come that a triple Champions League winner was on the scoresheet for them again. So, too, was Ian Maatsen, a Champions League finalist with Borussia Dortmund last season. Club Brugge, who scarcely boast the resources to attract such players, were eliminated.

• Paris Saint-Germain vs Aston Villa
• Real Madrid / Atletico Madrid vs Arsenal
• Barcelona vs Borussia Dortmund
• Bayern Munich vs Inter

After a forgettable first half, a hugely enjoyable second for Aston Villa. Paris Saint-Germain will be hearing Hi Ho Aston Villa here next month, a club who were in the Championship six years ago playing in the Champions League quarter-finals now. It is a terrific achievement by Unai Emery.

We skip added time! Aston Villa are through to the quarter-finals!

86 mins: Rashford is desperate for a goal and gets a sniff of a chance as he’s played through into the box. Vanaken steps across well to deny him.

82 mins: Aston Villa and Paris Saint-Germain have never played each other but there is plenty of narrative still between the teams, with Unai Emery set to face the team he managed between 2016 and 2018.

Unfortunately for the Spaniard, his time at PSG is best remembered for their historic collapse at Barcelona in the Remontada.

Emery would go head to head with the Barcelona manager from that famous night, in Luis Enrique.

77 mins: Terrific save from Mignolet, down low to his left, to keep out a curling effort from his Belgian team-mate Youri Tielemans.

74 mins: Aston Villa don’t play this weekend (their Premier League match was brought forward due to Liverpool being in the Carabao Cup final), so their next game is not until that Preston quarter-final on March 30.

The good news for Villa fans is we are pretty confident that Asensio will be eligible to play against PSG.