Aston Villa secured their place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League in emphatic fashion with a 3-0 win over Club Brugge in Birmingham on Wednesday night.
Two goals from Marco Asensio either side of a strike from Ian Maatsen ensured that the Villans went through 6-1 on aggregate, after the 3-1 win in Bruges last time out.
Unai Emery should be delighted with his side’s performance against the ten men of Club Brugge, who had Kyriani Sabbe sent off in the first half, and with Asensio – in particular – who starred off the bench.
Marco Asensio's performance against Club Brugge
He was named on the bench for the start of the match but was brought on for English forward Ollie Watkins by the manager at half-time with the team drawing 0-0.
The Spaniard scored his first and the opening goal for Villa shortly after his introduction when he found space in the box to finish, awkwardly, with his weaker right foot into the roof of the net.
His second, however, was a simpler finish. Marcus Rashford did brilliantly to create space for the cross down the left and cut the ball back for the PSG loanee to sweep the ball past the goalkeeper.
The 29-year-old maestro was not the only star for the Villans on the night, though, as left-back Maatsen put in his best performance for the club since his permanent move from Chelsea last summer.
Performance in Numbers
Ian Maatsen's best performance from Aston Villa
The Netherlands international has only started four times in the Premier League and three times in the Champions League this season, as Lucas Digne has been preferred ahead of him, but this performance may convince Emery to hand out more game time to him.
He was just as good as Asensio on the night because of his excellent contributions in and out of possession for Villa on the left flank, playing the full 90 minutes.
Maatsen won four of his six defensive duels, making two interceptions and one tackle without being dribbled past once, and this shows that the Club Brugge players found it difficult to get the better of him.
Pass accuracy
94%
90%
Tackles + interceptions
3
2.0
Duel success rate
67%
56%
Key passes
3
0.5
Dribbled past per game
0x
0.5x
Sofascore rating
8.4
6.99
As you can see in the table above, the Dutch dynamo was also sublime with his use of the ball, creating three chances and completing 94% of his attempted passes to go along with his goal.
Maatsen, who was handed a player rating of 8/10 by both the BirminghamMail and GOAL, put in his best performance in a Villa shirt, as illustrated by his statistics in comparison to his average output in the competition this term.
It was also his first goal for Villa, his highest Sofascore rating (8.4) for Villa, his most chances created (three) in a game for Villa, and his joint-highest pass success rate (94%) as a starter in the Champions League or Premier League this season.
Overall, it was a statement performance by Maatsen, who combined defensive solidity with attacking fluidity, and it was one that may earn him more starts and minutes between now and the end of the campaign, as the defender has shown just how good he can be at his best.
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