Unai Emery has built a fearsome team in his image which includes two ghosts of PSG's past heading into their quarter-final tie
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Aston Villa's season was petering away. Boxing Day's defeat at Newcastle United meant Unai Emery's side had already lost six times in their opening 18 games – one third of their matches – and had dropped to ninth in the Premier League standings. They were also out of the Carabao Cup before their FA Cup campaign had a chance to begin.
The saving grace for Villa had been their excellent European run, making a splash on their return to the Champions League. By the end of eight rounds of the new league phase, they had secured automatic qualification to the knockout stages, triumphing where the likes of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Manchester City had failed.
Their last league phase victory, a 4-2 win at home to Celtic, was overshadowed by the uncertain futures of their two main outlet for goals in Ollie Watkins and Jhon Duran. The former was the subject of a shock, if almost derisory, £45m bid from boyhood club Arsenal, but Villa had no interest in selling up. They were, however, willing to move Duran on to Al-Nassr, whose star players include Cristiano Ronaldo, for a fee of around £70m.
That sort of money was too good to turn down, though it did leave Villa with only a few days left of the winter transfer window to not only secure a replacement, but ultimately strengthen a squad which needed reinforcing in the first place. The recruitment team's efforts led them down the paths of out-of-favour Paris Saint-Germain forward Marco Asensio and want-away Manchester United attacker Marcus Rashford, both eventually signing on initial loans until the end of the season.
They often say 'never fall in love with a loan player', but the Holte End can't help it. The duo look totally reinvigorated in claret and blue. How opportune and ironic that their next task will be downing PSG, who seem to have finally got their act together in the Champions League after a decade of incompetence.
Follow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱Getty Images SportRashford's best European nights
Parc des Princes has seen many a famous Champions League moment since PSG's takeover by QSI. The unfortunate part is most of them have come at the hosts' misfortune.
Take Rashford, for example. The England forward has played twice in the French capital and left as the victor on both occasions in not dissimilar circumstances. Most famously, he converted a 94th-minute penalty in United's 3-1 win in the second leg of their last-16 tie in 2019, ensuring the underdog Red Devils, still with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in an interim role, progressed on away goals. It was hailed as one of the great modern comebacks of European football, with PSG sent back into crisis having previously thought to have been turning a corner under Thomas Tuchel.
Little over 18 months later, Rashford was back to deliver more pain at the tail-end of the German's reign. United ran out 2-1 victors on this occasion, with Rashford scoring late on to snatch the points away from a dominant PSG, who were beaten Champions League finalists heading into this group stage encounter.
Villa have a player who has been there and done it not only at the top level of European football, but in the very stadium they'll have to get out alive from to stand a chance of reaching the semi-finals. Don't underestimate that power of experience at this stage of the competition.
AdvertisementAFPMbappe comparisons
Rashford's career has at points intertwined with that of Kylian Mbappe. They both enjoyed similarly seismic breakout campaigns one after the other (Rashford in 2015-16 and Mbappe in 2016-17) and share various traits as forwards who use their pace to drive in from the left channel.
But while Mbappe has only gone from strength to strength, finally fulfilling his destiny as Real Madrid's latest 'Galactico', Rashford has only showed his promise in brief glimpses. You see shades of Mbappe in him, but not the full picture.
Shortly before his scoring boom of 2022-23 in which he grabbed 30 goals across all competitions, then-United boss Erik ten Hag predicted Rashford would go on such a run having compared him to the Frenchman: "From the first moment, I recognised huge potential. And now to get out the potential, I believe when Marcus' positioning is on the back of the defending line, there is almost no better player in the world. There is Mbappe in this moment, a type like him. But when he (Rashford)'s getting in that position, he's great and you see he's really improved also out of possession."
A year prior, mutual friend and team-mate Paul Pogba hailed both in the same breath: "They're two big, big, big talents. I think they are so young and so talented. They achieved so much for their young age. I think they are the present and the future of football."
What could take the pressure off of Rashford on Wednesday night is the removal of Mbappe from the equation. PSG are thriving without their all-time leading scorer and the focus won't be on these ill-advised comparisons again.
AFPTurning down PSG
There have been so many different 'sliding doors' moments between Rashford and PSG in recent years. The French champions appeared to be his most likely suitors when he was still yet to agree a new contract at United back in 2023, reportedly taking meetings with club chief Nasser Al-Khelaifi. Alas, he signed on the dotted line at Old Trafford, and there are claims PSG felt they were merely being used as leverage in any case.
Perhaps that's why Al-Khelaifi and Co did not reignite their interest over the past two transfer windows when it appeared Rashford would, after all, become available on the market again. Mbappe's departure in 2024 left room for a player of similar stature and skillset to come in, yet they kept their powder dry and built an attack out of four tricky wingers instead – Ousmane Dembele, Bradley Barcola, Desire Doue and then January arrival Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
With Luis Enrique preferring team-first attackers who are fluid in their movement and positioning, the door to PSG may be closed to Rashford once and for all. But he's not the only one in the Villa ranks with a point to prove.
AFPAsensio's Paris fallout
Having joined on a free from Real Madrid in 2023, Asensio put up respectable numbers in an injury-hit debut campaign at PSG, registering five goals and seven assists in 31 games without ever being a nailed-on starter or having a defined role. He played five different positions – central midfield, attacking midfield, striker and on both flanks – as Enrique sought to find a use for him.
The feeling between the two Spaniards turned sour this season. After beating Toulouse in November, claim Enrique expressed his dissatisfaction with Asensio's work ethic and pressing, which bemused the player considering they had just won the match. Enrique took it up a notch when he then dressed Asensio down in front of the whole squad and drastically cut his playing time – he would see only 18 minutes of action before being shifted to Villa. The player did apologise to the coach, but the damage was already done.
PSG spent January trying to find a buyer for Asensio with little success. It wasn't until Villa came in with a loan offer towards the deadline that they had a concrete option to get him off the books, even if only temporarily. Regardless, add that Asensio has no intention of returning to PSG.