Marco Asensio Renaissance Begins in Aston Villa Shirt

Marco Asensio's remarkably composed penalty execution in the 88th minute secured Aston Villa's 3-1 victory in the first leg of the Round of 16 at Club Brugge's home ground, Jan Breydel Stadium, Brussels, Belgium, on Wednesday (5/3/2025). Asensio's presence has sparked great hope for Villa to compete on Europe's grandest stage.

Since being brought in during the winter transfer window, Asensio has made an instant impact for Villa. He has already scored goals in three competitions he has participated in with the Birmingham-based club.

Asensio has already scored two goals each in the English Premier League and the FA Cup. He has also registered his name on the scoreboard in this season's Champions League after choosing Villa following his inability to secure a main position at Paris Saint-Germain.

A collection of five goals from seven matches wearing the Villa jersey signifies a "renaissance" period in Asensio's career after an underwhelming stint in Paris. Asensio only requires an average of 68 minutes to score a goal with Villa. This is the best goals-per-minute statistic of the 29-year-old forward's career.

Not only in terms of the time duration required to score goals, the resurgence of Asensio is also evident from the effectiveness of his shots. He has recorded a shooting accuracy of 47 percent since arriving at Villa Park.

The percentage is already higher than the record of 42 percent achieved in the final season with Real Madrid in 2022-2023. That was the best period in the career of the left-footed player.

At that time, Asensio managed to score 12 goals from 43 appearances in La Liga and the Champions League. In his farewell season at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, Asensio scored a goal every 146 minutes.

Playing for Villa also shows Asensio's maturity. He can provide an effective role in Villa's attack, both as a main player and as a substitute in the middle of the second half.

Goals scored against Chelsea in the Premier League and Cardiff City in the FA Cup came from his role as an attacking midfielder from the start. Asensio did not miss out on scoring a goal when he came on as a substitute against Brugge. He came on for Marcus Rashford in the 64th minute.

Appearing for less than half an hour was enough for Asensio to produce two threats to Brugge's goal. When he had only been on the pitch for four minutes, Asensio had already fired a shot on target that was anticipated by Brugge's goalkeeper. With those two shots, Asensio was the player with the highest expected goals (xG) record in the game with 0.95 xG.

Apart from his role in threatening the opponent's goal, Asensio has been very helpful in Aston Villa manager Unai Emery's attacking scheme. In addition to being able to play as an attacking midfielder and a winger, Asensio is also not awkward appearing alongside Villa's main center forward, Ollie Watkins.

With his quality, Asensio has also quickly adapted to some of Villa's best players, including fellow new signing Rashford. Despite never having spent time together off the pitch, Asensio and Rashford already have the chemistry of players who have played together for a long time. Three of Asensio's five goals have come from Rashford assists.

Despite spending the majority of his career in Spain, Asensio has a rare skill set for a career in England, a skill that is rarely found in players from Latin countries, namely fluent English. That situation has helped the 38-cap Spain international settle quickly at Villa, despite Emery's Spanish roots.

"I'm very happy with my team-mates and the whole staff. They give me a lot of confidence. I'm happy that the effort to keep performing is going well. My main goal is to help the team achieve the goals for the season and keep scoring goals," Asensio told ITV.

This season, Villa has struggled to repeat last season's achievement of breaking into the top four. However, Villa performed well by breaking into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. They have also put one foot in the last eight of the Champions League because they will host Brugge at Villa Park, next week.

"We have to keep pushing, we are on the right track now. We have to focus on every game," said Asensio, who has lifted 21 trophies during his career.

Guillem Balague, an expert and author of several books on Spanish football, said that Villa's success in bringing in Asensio was like Emery's love finally clapping its hands. Balague told the BBC that Emery had tried to bring in Asensio three times.

"Asensio has also been waiting a long time to join Unai (Emery). Before coming to Villa, Unai had promised Asensio to return to his role as number 10 which he had done at Mallorca. So, it is no surprise that Asensio was able to make an immediate impact at Villa Park," said Balague.

In addition to squad harmony and a game role that suits his wishes, another thing that Emery also desires from an experienced and champion-minded player like Asensio is his hunger for success. Asensio can share the role with Emiliano Martinez, Villa's goalkeeper, who has always been a reference for the mental attitude of the Villa squad because of his reputation as a World Cup champion with Argentina.

Emery reminded his squad that victory at Brugge's home ground does not guarantee their place in the next round. "There are still 90 minutes left. We know their capacity, so we will prepare ourselves for all scenarios in the second game, including going to extra time and penalties," Emery said as reported by UEFA's website.

From his strong start to life for Villa, Asensio has the potential to become the first Villa legend from mainland Europe, especially Spain. The earliest Asensio can achieve that is if he can help Villa end their trophy drought in the FA Cup or Champions League.