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.
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
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