Aston Villa Captain John McGinn says that the players are ready to “write our names in history” after reaching the quarterfinals of the Champions League on Wednesday.
Villa defeated Club Brugge 6-1 on aggregated in the last 16 and won the second stage 3-0 in Villa Park against 10 men, thanks to a brace of replacement Marco Asensio on either side of Ian Maatsen for the club.
It was a seventh victory in the competition in front of Unai Emery this season (D1 L2), with only Lazio and Valencia (both eight in 1999-2000) who won more games in their debut campaign.
In the process, Villa became the ninth other English side to reach the quarterfinals of the Champions League-it are most teams of a single nation to qualify for this phase of the competition.
And with Paris Saint-Germain, who killed Liverpool on penalties, McGinn is then enthusiastic about what will come.
“It's crazy. Many years of hard work,” McGinn told TNT Sports. “We left ourselves in the first half, but they are a good side. Even with 10 men they were the better side. We are lucky that Marco came off the couch. The second half was brilliant.
“It is not much more difficult than PSG over two legs. We have important games for that.
'I watched it [Liverpool v PSG] But you don't want to get too far for yourself. Villa, Champions League quarter -finalists. I can't ask much more.
“It will be good to have a bit of a break. We have a chance for Wembley in the FA Cup. We want to go back and enjoy these nights next season. What an exciting end to the season we have.
“We give these fans experiences that they will forever remember. We want to write our names in history and make these nights more often.”
Asensio made his impact of the bank, competed at the start of the second half and took less than five minutes to break the impasse.
He scored seven goals in his eight games for Aston Villa since he came on loan from PSG in the January transfer star. Indeed, only Ousmane Dembele (eight) has scored more in Europe's Big-Five competitions in all competitions since the debut of the Spaniard in February.
Asensio also only became the fourth replacement to score a brace for an English club in a Champions League Knock, and the first since Georginio Wijnaldum for Liverpool against Barcelona in May 2019.
“Very happy for the victory. I am very happy for the team and the fans,” Asensio told TNT Sports.
“Every match the atmosphere is great. We want more. Now we have a small break and to think about the coming objectives.
“I like to score there [Holte End]. We adapt to the new players, but we are in the right way.
'Very comfortable. Very happy with the teammates, the fans and the city. In one or two weeks we have time to think about this [PSG] game.”
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