By Aston Villa stormed into the Champions League quarterfinals with a dominant 3-0 victory over 10-man Club Brugge, sealing a 6-1 aggregate win. The result sets up a challenging showdown against Paris Saint-Germain in the next round.
Brugge, trailing 3-1 from the first leg, started aggressively and tested Villa early. However, their hopes were crushed when Kyriani Sabbe was sent off for pulling down Marcus Rashford on a clear goal-scoring opportunity.
Villa capitalized in the second half, with Marco Asensio breaking the deadlock in the 50th minute after a clever pass from substitute Leon Bailey. Seven minutes later, Ian Maatsen doubled the lead with a deflected effort, before Asensio struck again in the 61st minute, finishing off a Rashford cutback.
Now back in Europe’s elite competition for the first time in over 40 years, Villa faces a daunting challenge against PSG, who eliminated Liverpool on penalties. “It doesn’t get much harder than PSG over two legs,” said Villa captain John McGinn. “But Aston Villa are Champions League quarterfinalists—we can’t ask for much more.”
Despite missing more chances in a dominant second half, the Villa Park crowd erupted in celebration as fireworks lit up the sky at full-time.
“It’s mad! We’re giving these fans experiences they’ll remember forever,” added McGinn. “We want to write our names in history and make these nights more frequent.”
