With three Champions League goals in two appearances, Marco Asensio has been a player reborn while on loan at Aston Villa.
Up next for Villa are Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Princes in the Champions League quarter-finals, and the Spaniard could play a crucial role in helping knock his parent club out of Europe.
But why is the attacking midfielder allowed to play against the team that loaned him to Villa, and has this happened before?
Why is Asensio allowed to play?
Asensio is eligible to play on Wednesday because UEFA, European soccer’s governing body, states clubs cannot apply “any influence whatsoever over the players that another club may (or may not) field in a match”.
That is in contrast to the Premier League, as loanees in the English top flight cannot play against the team that holds their registration. Marcus Rashford, for example, won’t be lining up against Manchester United when Villa visit Old Trafford in May.
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Premier League rules were changed after Lomana LuaLua scored a late equaliser against his parent club Newcastle in a 1-1 draw while on loan at Portsmouth in the 2003-04 season.
Asensio played 135 minutes in the Champions League for PSG this season, but he was able to play for both teams in the group stages as he was registered before the stipulated February 2 deadline, as one of Villa’s three new eligible players who, according to UEFA’s rules, “may have been fielded for another club in the qualifying phase, play-offs or group stage of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League or UEFA Europa Conference League”.
Have loanees played against parent clubs before in the Champions League?
In the group phase, Villa faced one of their players, Samuel Iling-Junior, on loan to Serie A side Bologna at the time, albeit as a 77th-minute substitute.
Other loanees have had a more telling impact against their parent clubs in the Champions League. Philippe Coutinho scored twice in Bayern Munich’s 8-2 win over Barcelona in the 2019-20 season, while Thibaut Courtois helped Atletico Madrid knock out Chelsea in the 2014 semi-finals.
Coutinho scores Bayern’s eighth goal against Barcelona in Lisbon (Manu Fernandez/Pool via Getty Images)
Chelsea had tried to dissuade Atletico from playing Courtois by including a fee in his contract every time he featured against his parent club, but UEFA deemed this “null, void and unenforceable” and against their disciplinary regulations.
How important is Asensio to Villa?
Asensio helped book Villa’s place in the last eight by scoring three goals in the last 16 as Villa defeated Club Brugge 6-1 on aggregate over two legs.
Since moving to Villa on loan until the end of the 2024-25 season in February, the Spaniard has scored eight goals for the club in 11 appearances. He has managed seven in 47 games across all competitions for PSG.
Asensio celebrates scoring against Club Brugge at Villa Park (Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Villa manager Emery, a former PSG boss who won a domestic treble with the Parisian club in 2017-18, has been a long-term admirer of the player and tried to sign him in the summer of 2023 following the expiration of his contract at Real Madrid, but the midfielder opted for PSG instead.
Asensio is a left-footed player who can operate as a right-sided forward. He has benefited from playing in a more natural No 10 role at Villa — Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid and PSG use a 4-3-3 formation with two No 8s — and has created depth for Villa in attacking midfield, combining well with fellow loanee Rashford, who has assisted Asensio on four occasions.
Unlike in Rashford’s loan deal, there is no option to buy for Asensio, whose contract with PSG runs until 2026.
Has Asensio won the Champions League before?
At Real Madrid, where he made 286 appearances and scored 61 goals, Asensio lifted the Champions League title three times and scored in the 2017 final, helping Madrid beat Juventus 4-1.
Villa, who last won the competition in 1982, have had a fine season, reaching the semi-finals of the FA Cup, but PSG remain favourites for the tie after defeating Premier League leaders Liverpool on penalties in the previous round.
(Top photo: Julian Finney/Getty Images)
