Club Brugge vs Aston Villa LIVE: Champions League line-ups as Rashford starts but Asensio drops out | OneFootball

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'No big egos' with Asensio and Rashford - McGinn

Club Brugge host Aston Villa in the early Champions League kick off this evening with both teams surprising inclusions at the last-16 stage of the competition.

Villa massively impressed during the league phase of the revamped format and finished eighth after five wins and a draw from their eight matches. Unai Emery’s men came straight into the round of 16 and now must take on the Belgian side in a two-legged tie in order to progress.

For their part, Brugge just managed to sneak into the play-off round by finishing 24th in the table but shocked everyone with a 5-2 aggregate with over Atalanta.

Villa’s squad has been strengthened since their last Champions League outing and, with only two defeats in their last eight matches across all competitions, they’ll be confident of making it through to the quarter-finals.

Brugge vs English opponents

Across European competition, Club Brugge have won just one of their last 16 games against English opposition (D3 L12), conceding 42 goals during that time.

The Belgian side's only victory in that time did come against Aston Villa, however, 1-0 in this season's league phase.

Mike Jones4 March 2025 17:00

'Villa can make history'

“Of course, we’re in the competitions, we are contenders to win every competition we’re in,” John McGinn said. “In certain competitions we are more fancied than others.

“But of course, being in the competition, we are contenders, and going towards the end of the season, it’s brilliant that we’ve got so much to look forward to.

“We’ve got an opportunity to make some history, but (there’s) a long, long way to go in each competition.”

Mike Jones4 March 2025 16:35

'Beating them gives us confidence'

Club Brugge captain, Hans Vanaken, says the fact his side have already beaten Aston Villa this season gives them confidence that they can repeat the feat tonight.

Vanaken said: "Beating them in the league phase gave us confidence.

“It was a deserved three points and that encourages us ahead of the next two games. It is up to us to ensure we go to them with a good starting position.

"The only difference compared to the previous game against Aston Villa is that there are a number of new players, but their system and style of play have remained the same."