A look at the incredible journey and what lies ahead for Unai Emery’s men.
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00:00Charlie, an incredible situation for Aston Villa as they find themselves in the Champions League last eight.
00:08I mean, a lot of Villa fans will be pinching themselves seeing how far they've come in this trajectory.
00:12We've mentioned it so many times, the changes, the high expectations, the levels that Unai Emery and his team have set since he's come in and such a fast change as well.
00:22I mean, it could have all gone so wrong if goal-line technology worked a few years ago against Sheffield United.
00:28I mean, what would have happened in that situation?
00:32They find themselves in the last eight of the Champions League.
00:35I mean, let's look at the tie as a whole against Bruges.
00:37They went away and won at home and dominated in that second half, especially.
00:42What was the difference over the two legs and how confident can they feel now?
00:47I mean, it's almost as if they've got nothing to lose in this last eight.
00:52Yeah, I mean, reaching this point was never the expectation.
00:55Finishing in the top eight of the league phase, that was incredible on its own.
00:58They would have absolutely taken a playoff spot before the campaign got underway.
01:02And then, of course, you might not even get through the playoffs to get to the last 16, let alone the last eight, to set up a tie against Paris Saint-Germain.
01:09What an incredible achievement that was.
01:10But Bruges away last week, I think, was a little bit questionable, the performance, to be honest.
01:16Bruges easily could have gone and won that 3-4-0 themselves.
01:19Had so many opportunities, incredible goal-line clearance from Tyrone Ming, saved Villa.
01:24And then just at the end, there was a bit of a flurry as Villa went on to win 3-1.
01:28Not the best performance, but getting the early goal from Leon Bailey certainly helped.
01:31And then the return leg, the pressure's off.
01:33You've got a two-goal advantage at Villa Park.
01:36And then there's a sending off for their right-back Sabe, just 16 minutes in, when Rashford was taken down as the last man.
01:41What a pass that was from Emi Martinez to find Rashford over the top.
01:45And then you're thinking, OK, you've got the two-goal advantage, the numerical advantage.
01:49Bruges were actually the better team before half-time, had so much of the ball, but Villa able to contain them.
01:54And then, well, that first 15 minutes of that second half just absolutely blew them away.
01:58Marco Asensio off the bench, an incredible performance from him.
02:01Another brace.
02:03He's now had three braces in five appearances at Villa Park.
02:06He's had seven goals in eight appearances in total.
02:09And that's actually matching his goals tally from his entire career at Paris Saint-Germain over two years.
02:14So it's just amazing the start that he's made.
02:16And obviously, getting Villa to that quarter-finals, he's played a very key role in doing that.
02:21Yeah, I mean, Asensio's quality is clearly there.
02:26Do you feel maybe a few Villa fans, the younger generation possibly, he could be one of the best players they've ever seen in a Villa shirt?
02:33I think he's got to be up there.
02:34I mean, I remember when Coutinho joined and kind of the hype around him, the calibre, the reputation he had.
02:40The first six months on his loan, he did very well.
02:43Didn't quite go well after that point.
02:45They'll be hoping it's not a repeat of that because Asensio can be a quality player in this system.
02:49Playing as a number 10, I think he was wasted out on the right wing for PSG.
02:53And even then, he was mainly coming off the bench because they got so many options there.
02:57But being in that number 10, it just allows him to arrive late into the box, getting those goalscoring positions.
03:03And we've seen how clinical he can be.
03:05In terms of potentially a permanent deal for him, I think a lot of Villa fans are calling for that, as you would be.
03:10They say never fall in love with a loan player.
03:13They'd love to get him in on a permanent basis.
03:15His PSG contract expires in June 2026.
03:19So there's kind of scope there that maybe Villa could get a bargain deal this summer.
03:23Or they could extend the loan and maybe try and agree something at the end of the PSG contract.
03:28And I asked Unai Emery, actually, after the Brew second leg, if he would sign Asensio permanently.
03:33And he said, it depends.
03:34I was expecting him to just flat out say, you know, we're not going to talk about transfers.
03:38But he was quite happy to talk about Asensio and how well he fits into his system.
03:42So I think if they can get that over the line, it'll be so important for them.
03:47And PSG, I mean, arguably the best team in Europe this season.
03:53They've, you know, obviously they've won the French League most years, an incredible record in their own domestic situation.
04:00They haven't quite gone all the way in the Champions League.
04:03It looks like now they've got a real nailed on squad.
04:06They've got players coming back to their best.
04:08Ousmane Dembele seems to finally be fulfilling his potential that he's had.
04:12They've got a top class manager again, and it does seem to be all sort of coming together for them.
04:17I mean, what do you sort of look at this tie for Aston Villa?
04:21As I say, it seems they've got nothing to lose.
04:23But Unai Emery will certainly want to give them a real good account in this game.
04:28Absolutely. I think it is a bit of a free hit, this one, because you're not expecting to go and win.
04:33Of course, they're going to try their absolute best to go and do that and try and set up a semi-final against Real Madrid.
04:37It's not an expected thing.
04:39Just that squad is incredible, the form that they're in.
04:42And then they're doing well enough as it is before January.
04:45And then they go and bring in Varick Skelia from Napoli.
04:47I mean, do they really need him?
04:49Probably not, but he's now arguably their best player.
04:51They're incredible against Liverpool across both legs, a very professional performance.
04:55It'll be a very, very tough task for Villa to beat them, but they'll try their best.
04:58And Emery is a proper man for Europe.