PSG, beware - Marcus Rashford has your Champions League number & Marco Asensio is out for revenge as Aston Villa pose huge threat to Champions League dream

Parc des Princes has seen many a famous Champions League moment since PSG's takeover by QSI. The unfortunate part is most of them have come at the hosts' misfortune.

Take Rashford, for example. The England forward has played twice in the French capital and left as the victor on both occasions in not dissimilar circumstances. Most famously, he converted a 94th-minute penalty in United's 3-1 win in the second leg of their last-16 tie in 2019, ensuring the underdog Red Devils, still with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in an interim role, progressed on away goals. It was hailed as one of the great modern comebacks of European football, with PSG sent back into crisis having previously thought to have been turning a corner under Thomas Tuchel.

Little over 18 months later, Rashford was back to deliver more pain at the tail-end of the German's reign. United ran out 2-1 victors on this occasion, with Rashford scoring late on to snatch the points away from a dominant PSG, who were beaten Champions League finalists heading into this group stage encounter.

Villa have a player who has been there and done it not only at the top level of European football, but in the very stadium they'll have to get out alive from to stand a chance of reaching the semi-finals. Don't underestimate that power of experience at this stage of the competition.

Rashford's career has at points intertwined with that of Kylian Mbappe. They both enjoyed similarly seismic breakout campaigns one after the other (Rashford in 2015-16 and Mbappe in 2016-17) and share various traits as forwards who use their pace to drive in from the left channel.

But while Mbappe has only gone from strength to strength, finally fulfilling his destiny as Real Madrid's latest 'Galactico', Rashford has only showed his promise in brief glimpses. You see shades of Mbappe in him, but not the full picture.

Shortly before his scoring boom of 2022-23 in which he grabbed 30 goals across all competitions, then-United boss Erik ten Hag predicted Rashford would go on such a run having compared him to the Frenchman: "From the first moment, I recognised huge potential. And now to get out the potential, I believe when Marcus' positioning is on the back of the defending line, there is almost no better player in the world. There is Mbappe in this moment, a type like him. But when he (Rashford)'s getting in that position, he's great and you see he's really improved also out of possession."

A year prior, mutual friend and team-mate Paul Pogba hailed both in the same breath: "They're two big, big, big talents. I think they are so young and so talented. They achieved so much for their young age. I think they are the present and the future of football."

What could take the pressure off of Rashford on Wednesday night is the removal of Mbappe from the equation. PSG are thriving without their all-time leading scorer and the focus won't be on these ill-advised comparisons again.

There have been so many different 'sliding doors' moments between Rashford and PSG in recent years. The French champions appeared to be his most likely suitors when he was still yet to agree a new contract at United back in 2023, reportedly taking meetings with club chief Nasser Al-Khelaifi. Alas, he signed on the dotted line at Old Trafford, and there are claims PSG felt they were merely being used as leverage in any case.

Perhaps that's why Al-Khelaifi and Co did not reignite their interest over the past two transfer windows when it appeared Rashford would, after all, become available on the market again. Mbappe's departure in 2024 left room for a player of similar stature and skillset to come in, yet they kept their powder dry and built an attack out of four tricky wingers instead - Ousmane Dembele, Bradley Barcola, Desire Doue and then January arrival Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.

With Luis Enrique preferring team-first attackers who are fluid in their movement and positioning, the door to PSG may be closed to Rashford once and for all. But he's not the only one in the Villa ranks with a point to prove.

Having joined on a free from Real Madrid in 2023, Asensio put up respectable numbers in an injury-hit debut campaign at PSG, registering five goals and seven assists in 31 games without ever being a nailed-on starter or having a defined role. He played five different positions - central midfield, attacking midfield, striker and on both flanks - as Enrique sought to find a use for him.

The feeling between the two Spaniards turned sour this season. After beating Toulouse in November, L'Equipe claim Enrique expressed his dissatisfaction with Asensio's work ethic and pressing, which bemused the player considering they had just won the match. Enrique took it up a notch when he then dressed Asensio down in front of the whole squad and drastically cut his playing time - he would see only 18 minutes of action before being shifted to Villa. The player did apologise to the coach, but the damage was already done.

PSG spent January trying to find a buyer for Asensio with little success. It wasn't until Villa came in with a loan offer towards the deadline that they had a concrete option to get him off the books, even if only temporarily. Regardless, L'Equipe add that Asensio has no intention of returning to PSG.

Emery has made Villa Park a place of rejuvenation. Asensio and Rashford are not only the star names that fans had hoped to bring in with the allure of Champions League football, but they are providing the goods with smiles on their faces too.

In 11 appearances, Asensio has already racked up eight goals - more than he ever did in 47 matches for PSG, 56 for Mallorca and 37 for Espanyol. Rashford, meanwhile, has put up a more modest three goals and four assists in 12 games, but his most notable improvement has been off the ball, consistently tracking back and showing a desire to work for the team at both ends of the pitch.

Speaking on Rashford in particular last week, Emery said: "Keep going is the message for him. Playing more minutes means he's getting physically better, he's scoring more goals. We're playing him as a striker and trying to compete with [Ollie] Watkins. Maybe going forward we can play them together. Try to exploit his [Rashford's] qualities. He's in the best confidence moment. On Sunday, we planned to play him as a striker, and he scored two goals, so I decided to go again and he scored.

"This is the challenge he has. And the challenge we have in our squad, signing him for those months, of course, he's getting better, feeling confident, as well getting the understanding of our style, our demands, how difficult it is to face each team in each competition. Of course, his qualities, his skills are very important in the squad. Scoring goals, assists, we have the combination with the players, they are understanding better, each match we are playing for him is very important."

All of Villa, Asensio and Rashford have made a mockery of the notion that it's near-impossible to improve your squad in the January window. Emery's squad is now far more complete and way more experienced than it was heading into the season, and at this rate, it could secure them another season of Champions League football, climbing back up the Premier League table. The hope for Emery now is he can keep the duo around in the long term.

Both Asensio and Rashford head back to Paris with a chip on their shoulder, one out to get back at his current/former club, one to prove he is coming good on the potential and promise he's only teased the world with. The Champions League is a sucker for a ripe narrative and Villa are in France with two scrumptious tales to continue penning.

For PSG, this is their chance to further boast the credentials of their new project, to show the world they were right to abandon their glitz-and-glamour model in favour of constructing a coherent team. Their front four is the envy of Europe, as are Portuguese all-round midfielders Joao Neves and Vitinha. This is before you even get to Enrique's decision to ostracise Asensio for a seemingly minimal offence, too.

Villa's energy and work ethic might be the ideal tonic to combat PSG given how flat Liverpool were in their two legs against the French champions. Mix in the added value of football storytelling and we may have an upset on our hands. Whatever happens at Parc des Princes, you can guarantee Asensio and Rashford will be playing with that extra one per-cent edge.