‘Aston Villa move bars Donyell Malen and Andres Garcia from Champions League’
Aston Villa new boys Donyell Malen and Andres Garcia will be unable to play in the Champions League this season after a January transfer, reports The Athletic.
Following Jaden Philogene’s January switch to Ipswich Town, Villa were unable register a replacement for him in their Champions League knockout stages squad.
Each team must have eight locally-trained (trained in England) players in their squad to be able to register 25 players, for each locally-trained spot that is not filled, the squad reduces by that same number.
Teams are allowed a maximum of three additions to their squad for the knockout stages, and they have chosen to give those three spots to Marcus Rashford who was signed by Villa on Deadline Day, Marco Asensio and Axel Disasi.
This decision will now see new signings Malen and Garcia left out of the Champions League squad, as reported by The Athletic.
Manchester City were forced to omit Vitor Reis from their squad for similar reasons, and chose instead to register Omar Marmoush who signed from Frankfurt in January, Abdukodir Khusanov and Nico Gonzalez.
Marcus Rashford given opportunity to shine in Champions League for Aston Villa
Football Insider Verdict
Rashford’s last appearance in Europe’s most prestigious competition came against FC Copenhagen (8 November 2023), and the English forward was sent-off in a surprise 4-3 loss to the Danish side.
Man United bombed out of the group stage, finishing fourth in a group that contained Copenhagen, Galatasaray and Bayern Munich.
Since that match, Rashford has fallen out of favour at his boyhood club, and signed for Villa, giving the England international a chance at redemption in the Champions League.
However, Rashford will first have to beat out Jacob Ramsey, whom Emery has begun to favour at left-wing for a spot in the team.
That is unless Rashford is used as a striker, as Ollie Watkins is the only recognised number nine at the club, after Jhon Duran transfered to Al-Ittihad in January.
Marco Asensio adds Champions League mentality to Aston Villa
While Rashford will dominate the headlines following his move to Villa, Asensio’s late switch from PSG seems to be going a little more under-the-radar.
Asensio has a medal haul that would make most players giddy, having won three Champions League’s in his time at Real Madrid.
In 2017, the Spaniard scored the fourth in a 4-1 win over Juventus in the final of Europe’s elite competition, and Emery will likely lean on his experience to guide his squad through the tough task of facing Europe’s best clubs.