Aston Villa captain John McGinn says the players are ready to “write our names in history” after reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League on Wednesday.
Villa beat Club Brugge 6-1 on aggregate in the last 16, winning the second leg 3-0 at Villa Park against 10 men, thanks to a brace from substitute Marco Asensio on either side of Ian Maatsen’s first goal for the club.
It was a seventh win in the competition for Unai Emery’s side this season (D1 L2), with only Lazio and Valencia (both eight in 1999-2000) winning more games in their debut campaign.
In the process, Villa have become the ninth different English side to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League – it is the most teams from a single nation to qualify for this stage of the competition.
And with Paris Saint-Germain, who knocked out Liverpool on penalties, next up, McGinn is excited by what is still to come.
“It’s mad. A lot of years of hard work,” McGinn told TNT Sports. “We let ourselves down in the first half, but they’re a good side. Even with 10 men, they were the better side. We’re lucky to have Marco to come off the bench. The second half was brilliant.
“It doesn’t get much harder than PSG over two legs. We have important games before that.
“I watched it [Liverpool v PSG] but you don’t want to get too far ahead of yourselves. Villa, Champions League quarter-finalists. Can’t ask for much more.
“It’ll be good to have a bit of a break. We have a chance for Wembley in the FA Cup. We want to get back and enjoy these nights next season. What an exciting end to the season we’ve got.
“We’re giving these fans experiences they’ll remember forever. We want to write our names in history and make these nights more frequent.”
Asensio made his impact off the bench, entering the fray at the start of the second half, and taking less than five minutes to break the deadlock.
He has scored seven goals in his eight games for Aston Villa since joining on loan from PSG in the January transfer window. Indeed, only Ousmane Dembele (eight) has netted more in Europe’s big-five leagues across all competitions since the Spaniard’s debut in February.
Asensio also became just the fourth substitute to score a brace for an English club in a Champions League knockout match, and the first since Georginio Wijnaldum for Liverpool against Barcelona in May 2019.
“Very happy for the victory. I’m very happy for the team and the fans,” Asensio said to TNT Sports.
“Every match the atmosphere is top. We want more. Now we have a little break and to think about the upcoming objectives.
“I like to score there [Holte End]. We’re adapting to the new players, but we’re in the right way.
“Very comfortable. Very happy with the team-mates, the fans and the city. In one or two weeks we have time to think about this [PSG] game.”
