Aston Villa

Marcus Rashford's form since arriving on loan at Aston Villa in January has led toan England recall for the first time since March 2024, joining team-mates Morgan Rogers and Ezri Konsa in Thomas Tuchel's inaugural squad.

However, semi-final hero at Euro 2024 Ollie Watkins is missing from the group announced on Friday. has not been selected.

How are you feeling about the squad?

Did Rashford's form justify it?

And what's happened with Watkins?

Let us know here.

Read more on the England squad selection.

Image source, Getty Images

We asked for you to tell us in just one sentence why Aston Villa will qualify for the Champions League.

Here are some of your comments:

Ian: As reigning champions.

Prit: Strength in depth and the master strategist that is Unai Emery.

Andy: Because they have an appealing mixture of youth, naivety and experience that is rolling a crest of a wave.

Nick: January transfer business!

Phil: Villa are coming into form, with a fully-fit squad, play teams around them next month and will take points from them.

Lee: One word - Asensio!

Jeremy: Squad depth, fewer injuries and in Unai we trust!

Michael: We have a better manager, better squad and a much better fanbase than the opposing teams!

Jonathan: Aston Villa are going to beat Barcelona in the final of the Champions League to qualify for it next season.

Roma and England striker Tammy Abraham, 27, who is currently on loan at AC Milan, has told friends he is keen to return to Aston Villa this summer. (Football Insider), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Friday's full gossip column

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Ten games to go and we need your positivity.

It is looking likely the Premier League will be awarded an extra Champions League spot for the 2025-26 season, so finishing fifth will mean a seat at Europe's top table.

We want you to tell us, in just one sentence, why Aston Villa will qualify for the Champions League.

Let us know here

Aston Villa and Arsenal are the last Premier League clubs standing in the Champions League and they both face European giants in the quarter-final stage.

Unai Emery's men will have to overcome Paris St-Germain for a place in the semi-final but will have home advantage in the second leg.

Should Villa and Arsenal progress, they will play one another in the semi-final.

On the other side of the draw, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona await, meaning Villa would face one of those four in the final if they make it to the end.

Image source, Getty Images

Prince William was in attendance at Villa Park as Aston Villa progressed into the European Cup quarter-finals for the first time in 42 years.

Unai Emery's men are targeting the club's first premier continental trophy since they won the European Cup in 1982 - the year the next in line to the throne was born.

We asked for your thoughts after Aston Villa progressed to the Champions League quarter-final with victory over Club Brugge.

Here are some of your comments:

Matt: Magical night. A nervy first half but we took the handbrake off in the second half! Marco Asensio and Marcus Rashford are looking the business. It was nice to see Ian Maatsen get his goal. We are going to need to be at our maximum for the quarters-finals.

Prit: On another spine-tingling Villa Park night, our Champions League dream continues! That said, even with a man down, Club Brugge were much the better team in the first half. With Unai Emery's second-half substitutes, we looked faster in transition and our passing was much sharper. Clearly Asensio must be carrying some kind of knock otherwise he would be playing for 90 minutes, but what a player. With Emery and Asensio going back to Paris, I'm sure both have unfinished business in the city of love.

Yasuaki: I'm not sure we'll manage to overturn PSG but even if that is where our Champions League adventure ends, I can't complain. I hope we will give the best account of ourselves and I'm sure Unai will have some ideas about his old club. Credit to Brugge too - they probably deserved more from the first leg and they were a real battling opponent.

Jonathan: PSG were excellent against Liverpool but in the group stage they were underwhelming. Whichever version turns up in the quarter-finals, I wouldn't write off Villa's chances.

Nick Mashiter
BBC Sport football news reporter

Marco Asensio's Paris St-Germain career has been forgettable - but he now has the chance to make them remember his name.

The 29-year-old can face his parent club in their Champions League quarter-final showdown against Aston Villa next month, after moving from Parc des Princes to Villa Park on loan in February.

His second-half double in Wednesday's 3-0 second-leg win over Club Brugge in the last 16 puts him on a collision course with PSG, who beat Liverpool on penalties on Tuesday.

Uefa rules state clubs cannot apply "any influence whatsoever over the players that another club may (or may not) field in a match" - meaning PSG's Champions League dream could end at the hands of their own player.

A move to Villa has reinvigorated him, and only PSG's Ousmane Dembele (eight) has scored more goals in Europe's big five leagues across all competitions than Asensio since his debut for Villa last month (seven).

Those goals have come in eight games - three in the last-16 tie against Club Brugge - with the Spain attacking midfielder willing to wait before focusing on his return to Paris.

He said: "[I'm] 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.

"In 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 [the Holte End]. We're adapting to the new players but in the right way."

Thursday's newspaper back pages highlight the comfortable manner in which Villa 'cruised' into the Champions League quarter-finals after beating Club Brugge 6-1 over two legs.

They will face French giants Paris St-Germain in the last eight.

For Unai Emery, it is the chance to take Villa's dream even deeper into the tournament and he will - no doubt - enjoy trying to plot his former club's downfall.

These are heady days for Villa.

Image source, Daily Mirror and The Guardian

Image source, Getty Images

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery told TNT Sports: "We started the match under our expectations. They dominated the match. We didn't play the first half like we planned.

"We spoke at half-time, changed some thing, tried to change something in our minds to play better and it was completely different."

Image source, Getty Images

Aston Villa's Marco Asensio, speaking to TNT Sports after his double against Club Brugge: "Very happy for the victory. I'm very happy for the team and the fans.

"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."

Image source, Getty Images

Pundits covering the match for BBC Sport were impressed by the Spaniard's display and the impact he and fellow January loan signing Marcus Rashford have made at Villa.

Former Arsenal and Brighton defender Matthew Upson on BBC Radio 5 Live: "Marco Asensio is clever in where he positions himself. It's a nightmare really.

"He comes on the pitch and he has the knack to pick up the right areas.

"You need to get yourself in a mentality that, when it's your turn to play your part, you're at your best and you're delivering and that's what world-class players do. He's in that bracket.

"He's a great signing for Villa and he's going to play a big part in the exciting finish to the season they have ahead."

Former Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha, on BBC Radio 5 Live:

"I think in terms of Marcus Rashford's style of play, the direction that he's going, taking people on, the speed and that final ball, getting those assists for Marco Asensio, that stuff has been great.

"Managing to get those two players in January while not playing much for their teams has come at an expense, but they had to be able to see the hunger to make their difference and it's worked out so well for them."

European football expert Julien Laurens on MOTD:

"It is a little surprising that Marco Asensio has not started more games for Aston Villa but apparently he is not fully fit and Morgan Rogers has also been in such good form. Asensio's natural position is a number 10 so he would have to move one of them out of position to get them both in the starting XI.

"Still, Asensio certainly seems happy to be used as a super sub, and maybe that's how Unai Emery sees him for now, as an impact player.

"Another January signing, Marcus Rashford, has been used in a similar way, and they have both been effective.

"It means Villa have more depth and lots of options too. It's working well for Emery at the moment."

Image source, Getty Images

Aston Villa captain John McGinn, speaking to TNT Sports: "It's mad. A lot of years of hard work. 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."

Villa defender Tyrone Mings: "It's good. Tough to put into words. When you're in it, it's hard to take it in and appreciate it, the level we're playing at. The bar keeps raising. The Championship feels like a long time ago. I'm really enjoying the journey."

Were you at the game or following from elsewhere?

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