“He got it wrong” – Emery slammed for Rashford substitution after Aston Villa exit Champions League | OneFootball

Aston Villa crashed out of the Champions League after losing the quarter-final tie to Paris Saint-Germain 5-4 on aggregate last night.

Villa trailed 3-1 after the first leg and fell further behind when Achraf Hakimi netted from point-blank range in the 10th minute.

Nuno Mendes added another to leave Villa with a mountain to climb. But Unai Emery’s side produced a magnificent response to spark hopes of a historic comeback.

Youri Tielemans pulled one back with a deflected strike before John McGinn and Ezri Konsa scored in quick succession after half-time.

The Midlands outfit ultimately fell short due to Gianluigi Donnarumma’s excellence between the sticks.

Villa’s fightback was praised, but Emery’s decision to replace Marcus Rashford left many people baffled as he was causing PSG problems.

Former Blackburn Rovers defender Stephen Warnock slammed Emery’s decision.

Warnock told BBC Radio 5 Live: “I don’t know what Unai Emery saw, with the way Marcus Rashford was playing, he got it wrong. Rashford was brilliant.

“Rashford was involved in everything and everything which was good was coming from him.

“It felt like the tempo dropped when he made that substitution. You need a goal – why are you taking a striker off?

“If you want to pin PSG back, you play Rashford and Watkins in between the full-back and centre-halves, and you stretch those balls over the top.”

Villa fans will be disappointed their team couldn’t make it to the Champions League semi-final, but they can take plenty of encouragement from their excellent performance on Tuesday.

If not for Donnarumma’s heroics in goal, they could have won the quarter-final tie.