Aston Villa booked our spot in the quarter-finals of the Champions League after a 6-1 aggregate win over Club Brugge.
Leading 3-1 from the first leg in Belgium last week, a brace from Marco Asensio and a strike from Ian Maatsen sandwiched in between saw us finish the job in the second half at Villa Park on Wednesday night.
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The visitors had started brightly as Villa were cautious in the early stages, but after they were reduced to 10 men, the momentum of the encounter swung in our favour as we took control after the break and made it comfortable.
Villa will now face Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-finals, as we look to extend what has already been a memorable European campaign this season.
Emery, Villa manage the game perfectly
Although it could be argued that Villa were perhaps too cautious and passive in the first half, credit must also be given to Club Brugge as they came with a gameplan and positive intent that worked.
While we were cagey through the opening 45 minutes, we ultimately avoided any silly mistakes in the early stages and didn’t allow our rivals to build up any momentum or to make the game more nervy and chaotic.
The red card certainly influenced proceedings, but after setting ourselves a foundation in the first half, Villa stepped it up after the interval, with the help of our substitutes, and our quality showed to help make it a comfortable win.
Asensio magic makes the difference again
That’s now seven goals in eight appearances since the Spaniard joined us, with just three of those outings coming as a starter.
His impact has been pivotal in recent weeks, as his goals have been decisive. Beyond the goals though, his quality has been a joy to watch as his movement and positional awareness is elite.
Not only did he find pockets of space in the final third to create dangerous openings, but his ability to drift into threatening positions and show composure in front of goal to make the difference is making him an inspired addition to the squad.
Great moment for Maatsen
While he put in an impressive all-round display on Wednesday night, it was great to see Maatsen get on the scoresheet and register his first goal in a Villa shirt.
The Dutchman has struggled this season in terms of displacing Lucas Digne, and so he has often had to play second fiddle to his teammate as he continues to adapt and integrate into Emery’s starting line-up.
He’s had highs and lows through the course of the campaign, but his goal was hopefully not just the highest of highs, but a moment that will allow him to kick on and deliver consistently in the run-in as we’ll certainly need him.
Huge boost seeing Pau return
Emery will be delighted by the fact that we’re continuing to welcome back key individuals from injury, with Pau Torres the latest to get valuable minutes on his comeback.
While we were too porous as a backline with him in the side too, we’ve undoubtedly missed the Spanish centre-half during his absence since late December, as his influence is crucial in both phases.
Particularly with crunch European games coming up against PSG, and hopefully either Real Madrid or Arsenal in the semi-finals to follow, his experience, calmness, technical ability and class could be huge in those games to help us defend resolutely, but also maintain possession and control.
Villa make the quarter-finals of the Champions League
Both John McGinn and Tyrone Mings spoke after the game about the journey that they’ve been on with Villa from the Championship to the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
It’s an incredible story of progress and development, and while we don’t want the final chapter to come anytime soon, we must continue to savour and enjoy every moment of what this journey is giving us.
Emery and the players will go into the PSG tie believing we can win and take another step forward, but what we’ve already achieved to get to this point should be celebrated in itself as we’ve been excellent in Europe, and hopefully still have plenty left in the tank to keep this rolling on.
