What Club Brugge manager said about Aston Villa and Marcus Rashford didn't shock me
Club Brugge manager Nicky Hayen is expecting to face a stronger Aston Villa side to the one which lost 1-0 at the Jan Breydel Stadium in November.
Unai Emery signed five players in the winter window, but could only register three for the knockout rounds of the Champions League.
Despite being the two permanent additions to the Villa team, Donyell Malen and Andres Garcia were left out so loanees Marcus Rashford, Marco Asensio and Axel Disasi could come in.
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Disasi has only made three appearances since joining after being cup-tied in the FA Cup against Tottenham and Cardiff City, while he was also unable to feature against parent club Chelsea last month.
Rashford has featured six times so far, and since his debut on February 9, he has created more chances in all competitions than any other Premier League player (13).
Asensio, meanwhile, has scored braces in successive home matches against Chelsea and then Cardiff City in the FA Cup last time out.
It’s therefore no surprise to hear Hayen admit that his team will face a challenge to replicate the league phase result they got over Villa on Tuesday night.
“We don’t have a specific way of stopping them,” Hayen said about Rashford and Asensio. “It will be a tactical decision.
“We are not going to point to one player because they have more than just Rashford and Asensio as quality players.
“Before they joined they still had really good results. It doesn’t change. They have more quality now in their squad which makes them stronger than before.
“Individually, they have a lot of quality, but they are often the same. They bring intensity and will bring lots of offensive quality.”
Hayen added: “Their structure has stayed the same. They do have a little bit more dynamic movements.
“For example, McGinn drops into the midfield whereas before he was playing higher. It still says the same, just different names.
“It doesn’t change the quality in their team (when players play in different positions).”
Asked if Villa are a better team than what Brugge faced earlier this season, Hayen said: “Let’s hope not! Of course, when you get players like them, normally, at least on paper you are a stronger team.”
Brugge captain Hans Vanaken added: “There are two or three more players who weren’t there. I think the system and how they play will be the same.
“It is the same coach and system. There are now new players in some positions, but everything will be the same in principle. We don’t expect much to be that different from the last game.”
