Asensio At The Double As Aston Villa Advance In Champions League With Comfortable Win Over Club Brugge

Aston Villa booked their spot in the Champions League quarter-finals with a comfortable 6-1 aggregate victory over Club Brugge, and you can watch the full match highlights from the second leg below.

Asensio At The Double As Villa Advance To Quarter-Finals

Leading 3-1 after last week’s first leg in Brussels, Aston Villa looked to confirm their spot in the Champions League quarter-finals as they welcomed Club Brugge to Villa Park for the second leg of their last 16 tie on Thursday.

There was a somewhat tense atmosphere in the ground throughout the opening 10 minutes, but the mood quickly changed at the 16-minute mark, with the Belgian champions being reduced to 10 men.

Emiliano Martinez’s long-range ball bounced in behind the visitors’ defence, and with Marcus Rashford running in on goal, he was brought down by Kyriani Sabbe, who was shown a straight red card for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity.

Despite having an extra man, the Villans were unable to break the deadlock in the first period.

Just five minutes after returning from the half-time break however, Unai Emery’s side took the lead through substitute Marco Asensio. Seven minutes later, Ian Maatsen doubled the hosts’ advantage to make it 5-1 on aggregate.

Any lingering doubts over the result were quickly put to bed four minutes after that, with Asensio netting his seventh goal in his last five outings across all competitions, assisted by Manchester United loanee Rashford.

Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain, who defeated Premier League leaders Liverpool on penalties in their round of 16 tie on Tuesday night, await Villa in next month’s quarter-finals.

WATCH: Aston Villa 3-0 Club Brugge (6-1 aggregate) Highlights

Aston Villa now face over a two-week break thanks to March’s international window, and they are next in action on Sunday, 30 March, in the FA Cup quarter-finals against Championship side Preston at Deepdale.

Three days later, they return to English top-flight action, where they currently occupy eighth place in the table, as they take on seventh-place side Brighton & Hove Albion at the Amex.