The victory of Paris Saint-Germain over Liverpool in the Champions League has left some Aston Villa fans who are wondering if they might be without Marco Asensio if Unai Emery's sisde would continue to the quarterfinals, but they are lucky.
The Spanish international Asensio came to Villa on loan from PSG in February and made a fast start. He scored five times in seven games, with one of those goals that put his team in pole position to pass by Clubbrugge in Europe.
If they can protect their 3-1 advantage, a meeting with the parent club of Asensio will follow. PSG needed fines to pass Liverpool in the round of 16, with Gianluigi Donnarumma their hero thanks to two rescues in a 4-1 shootout victory.
Asensio's colleague Loanese Axel Disasi and Marcus Rashford cannot see their parent clubs in the Premier League, with Disasi who looks a victory over Chelsea and Rashford due to a last day meeting with Manchester United. However, it is a different story for Asensio, with the former Real Madrid star against Les Parisiens.
In 2014, UEFA issued a statement in which his rules are confirmed for players who compete against their former clubs. “Both the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA disciplinary regulations contain clear provisions that strictly forbid a club to exert a different influence on the players who can (or not) another club in a match (whether or not),” it said.
“It follows that every provision in a private contract between clubs that may function in such a way to influence who a club fields in a competition is zero, invalid and unable to be delivered to UEFA. Furthermore, any attempt to maintain such a provision is such a provision.”
At the time, questions were asked whether Thibaut Courtois – on loan in Atletico Madrid – could appear against Ouderclub Chelsea. The Belgian did indeed start both legs of the semi-final of the Champions League against the blues, with Athleti won 3-1.
Were Asensio to play and score against PSG, it would not be the first time that a player caused the damage against a parent club in the Champions League. Indeed, it would not even be the first time that it happened in this phase of the competition.
Philippe Coutinho joined Bayern Munich on loan from Barcelona for the 2019-2020 season and the two clubs were pulled together in the one-legged quarter-finals of that season. Coutinho emerged as a replacement for Serge Gnabry and scored two late goals, giving Bayern 8-2 winners.
Villa itself is on the other side of a similar situation this term, albeit not one that they have admitted to a player they own. Summer Signing Samuel Iling-Junior spent the first half of the season on loan in Bologna and played for 13 minutes in Villa Park in the competition phase when the hosts claimed a 2-0 win.
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