Aston Villa 3-0 Club Brugge (6-1 agg): Asensio brace helps hosts cruise into last eight

Aston Villa marched into the Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday with an easy 3-0 win over 10-man Club Brugge in their last-16 second leg, sealing a 6-1 aggregate win.

Villa already had a 3-1 cushion from the first leg and cruised through to set up a quarter-final tie against Paris Saint-Germain, who beat one of the favourites in Liverpool on penalties on Tuesday.

Brugge actually began the second leg better and gave Villa some early scares, but they faced an impossible challenge after Kyriana Saba was sent off for pulling down Marcus Rashford, who was through on goal in the 16th minute.

Villa could not immediately capitalise on their numerical advantage, but they did so in the second half. Half-time substitute Marco Asensio swivelled and scored from close range in the 50th minute after a pass from fellow substitute Leon Bailey.

Ian Maatsen then met Morgan Rogers’ pull-back seven minutes later, side-footing in Villa’s second goal with the help of a deflection, with a VAR check confirming the latter had stayed onside.

Asensio, who had struck the post from a one-on-one situation against Simon Mignolet shortly after opening the scoring, swept home in the 61st minute from a cutback by the marauding Rashford, to the joy of a packed and bouncing Villa Park.

Mignolet then denied Matty Cash, while Youri Tielemans fired wide, though Villa’s passage into the last eight was already confirmed.

Into the next round #UCL pic.twitter.com/qFRux7AJjQ

— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) March 12, 2025

Data Debrief: Super-sub Asensio gets the job done

Asensio has taken Villa by storm since joining the club on loan in the January transfer window, and he made his mark in the Champions League once more.

Since his debut in February, only Ousmane Dembele (eight) has scored more goals in Europe’s big five leagues across all competitions than Asensio (seven).

He has now scored in three consecutive appearances for the club and is the first player to score two or more goals as a substitute for an English club in the Champions League since Mohamed Salah’s hat-trick against Rangers in October 2022.

Villa have become the ninth different English side to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League, the most teams from a single nation to reach this stage of the competition.