Marcus Rashford brutally accused of 'just standing around' as Aston Villa fell to PSG defeat in Champions League quarter-final first leg

Villa lost 3-1 to PSG in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday and Rashford was peripheral throughout, having started as the club's No.9. Now, former Manchester United coach Rene Meulensteen has questioned whether his performance was tactically motivated or if he simply had an off night and resorted to the kind of performance that saw him leave United.

Rashford has been in good form for Villa since arriving in January, scoring three goals and registering four assists in 13 games. He will have to improve on his last showing if the Midlands club are to find a way to turn the tie around in Birmingham next week.

Speaking on talkSPORT, Meulensteen said: "I just wanted to ask the question, I looked at the game yesterday and I thought to myself, 'Has Emery asked Marcus to just stay in front of the big block of four or five defenders and just stand there not doing anything?'

"Because instantly he just walked around waiting to be released and then obviously, you know, do the goods, because I thought I saw similar traits that I didn't like to see when he was at Manchester United and I thought 'I hope it is Unai Emery that told him'."

Villa play already-relegated Southampton this weekend. They are likely to rotate heavily ahead of next week's second leg clash with PSG.