Asensio brace sets up PSG clash for Aston Villa | Can Arsenal go 'all the way' and win the Champions League?
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Welcome to Back Pages, bringing you everything you need to know about the biggest sports stories making the headlines in the morning's newspapers. I'm Teddy Draper and joining me are David Ornstein and Henry Winter. Welcome to you both. OK, let's start with Aston Villa getting through to the Champions League quarterfinals. The male bring on PSG and it's that.

Kind of familiar picture tonight, Asensio and Rashford all smiles. And David, come to you. It's a victory for Villa, a victory for the transfer policy in January, wasn't it as well?

Yeah, definitely. They were one of the clubs who needed to do something in the market and they did it very effectively with Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio. Asensio's been prolific. I think that's seven goals now since signing. He's a top quality player. We saw that with Real Madrid previously and the Spain national team, more recently PSG, who he'll go up against next.

And Rashford is finding some form. It'll be really interesting to see if he makes it back into the England squad that's announced on Friday. But at the centre of this all is Unai Emery, a master of European competition, also club football, and he's proving it on both fronts. I think that's quarterfinals now of the Champions League, of the FA Cup.

They're pushing for the top five in the Premier League, which would earn them qualification into the Champions League again next season. They've had to battle with financial issues, PSR. They've had to trade. They've had to sell some players like John Duran. What a talent.

But they go from strength to strength and it's really exciting times at Villa Park. The atmosphere is amazing. And just think of what it's going to be like in the quarterfinal second leg when PSG come to town. And you wouldn't put it past Emery to put off another victory there. It's quite amazing to see what they're doing.

It certainly is. Pictures in The Guardian as well, a lot of smiles. We've seen Rashford and Asensio. We've now got Morgan Rodgers and Asensio in embrace there, Henry. You, of course, broke the news of Marcus Rashford's intention to leave Manchester United. Henry, what have you made of his integration, Asensio's integration to Aston Villa? Marcus Rashford is playing with a smile on his face again. He's playing higher up the pitch. He's got attacking full-backs.

whether it's Mattson or Dina, and that makes a difference. And I think anyone who's followed Marcus Rashford's career from a young age just knows that if you get the ball to him quickly, as Emi Martinez did for the move that led to Brugger going down to 10 men, Rashford is devastating, whether he's nutmegging defenders, whether he's just using that ferocious pace, that strength to get ahead of

opposition players, I mean, he is a threat and he's clearly and very quickly built up a very intelligent understanding with Asensio. I think it was his second goal. You know, he just, it's a good ball by Rodgers and he got in there, Rashford got in there and set it up for Asensio. But this is, as David alluded to, Emery's imprint is on all of this.

And it was interesting that Emery tonight, two things that stood out for him. First, the substitutions that he made. He's very decisive. He's such a shrewd reader of the game. Asensio came on at halftime and obviously made the difference. But also, it was his body language as well. You look at Emery and even where they were heading to, I think it was 6-1 up on aggregate, he was still demanding more from his players. So he's a hard taskmaster and he's...

You know, he wants more European glory. But yeah, seeing Rashford playing with a smile on his face, I think that is an incredibly attacking team when you think you've got Ollie Watkins in there, you've got Morgan Rodgers in there. He was slightly cautious at the beginning with McGinn sort of playing as a 10. But, you know, when they're all flying forward, that is something. And that game against PSG, I mean, PSG will be favourites for that game because we saw how good they were well over the two games against Liverpool. But what a game that is going to be. Yeah.

It certainly is. Marco Asensio at the front of it, in the back page of the Times as well, just wheeling away in celebration. Asensio puts Villa in quarters. He is eligible, as we understand it, David, to play against the Paris Saint-Germain. And of course, there's the history of Unai Emery with PSG. It's an intriguing one, isn't it?

Yeah, friends reunited. And it wasn't the best of times for Emery at PSG. You know, he won there, but not to the extent that they...

a craving and that's ultimately the champions league. And he then got picked up by Arsenal and, and that was another disappointing stint. And, and he'll look back on that with regret. It seems that, uh, he's constantly, uh, proving doubters wrong. And those who have underestimated him starting to look a bit silly. It'd be interesting to see if, uh, both Villa and Arsenal progressed to the semifinals that they would be on course to meet, I think. Um, but,

but he's a top class coach and Henry mentions their Asensio substitution, but also, uh, Mattson and, and he came on and, and did very well too. Um, they've been screwed in the transfer market, not just in, in the January window gone, but all of his windows since he came to the club and, and they forged a really strong, um,

between all of those decision makers at Villa. So Damio Vidigani, who's alongside him, his trusted sidekick. Of course, Monchi sort of heading up recruitment and plenty more besides. And right up to the ownership who personally appointed him in terms of Nassif Sawiris and Wes Edens.

Villa are onto a really good thing. And then, yeah, as you say, Asensio as well, he's on loan from PSG. We think he can play, but PSG are open to his sale, even though there was no option put in the actual loan deal. Sounds like they would very willingly countenance him going to Villa on a permanent basis, which looks like they might have to rethink or it could be a real bargain for Villa. Yeah.

And they're a force to be reckoned with in all competitions now. And that's testament to how far Villa have come, because many of us will remember not so long ago, in particular Villa fans, that they were in the championship. They were struggling. They had financial turmoil. They survived relegation back down to the championship after promotion on what the final day of the season, Jack Grealish away to West Ham. So, yeah, good times at Villa Park and their fans are rightly delighted by this.

Indeed, David. Quick thought, Henry, on Aston Villa versus PSG. We saw how impressive PSG were against Liverpool, but do you think Unai Emery could outfox Luis Enrique?

well i mean lewis enrique i mean he's just he's been one of the coaches of the season he's probably one of the most underrated coaches of the last 10 years he's consistently sort of punched above his weight you look at this psg squad that he's taken he hasn't got any of the sort of bling kids the hollywood fc he has just taken some of the the local kids the local talent barker and players like that he's bringing the best out of denbally we saw thought denbally was a was a

most effective out wide. He's played him through the middle and he's been fantastic. It is going to be a battle of pace. There's so much pace in these two teams. You know, you look at Rashford, you look at Dembélé, you look at Barcala. I mean, you know, it is going to be an absolute classic game.

It is. Really look forward to that one. Look forward to seeing who Arsenal will play. Currently a penalty shootout between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. But the Gunners on cloud nine reports the mirror with that stir reference to Raheem Sterling starting up front or in a nine for Arsenal. David, what can they take away from that? Do you think there's a, I guess, a glimmer of redemption for Raheem Sterling for what we saw?

Yeah, you'll have to forgive me for looking away. I'm watching this penalty shootout to see who Arsenal will actually face in the quarterfinals between Real Madrid and Atletico. It was a really good night for Arsenal in terms of their passage through to the last eight, but the hard work was done in Eindhoven.

And it breathes life into the rest of their season after falling off the pace in the Premier League title race and out of the two domestic cup competitions. I think tonight was about Raheem Sterling. He took the Player of the Match award. He was...

huge problem for PSV down that right-hand side, especially in the first half. He didn't make quite such an impact in the second, but two assists. He's got such European pedigree. He's got such footballing pedigree and we've not seen it to the extent that we kind of expected at Arsenal. And it's been a tough couple of years for him at Chelsea and now Arsenal. But

as he said in his interviews after the match, he's still got an important part to play potentially for the rest of the season. Unfortunately for him and Arsenal, he picked up a booking, which means he'll miss the first leg of the quarterfinals. But, you know, we're talking about Arsenal lacking attacking options and penetration, but he showed tonight that there is still plenty of life in him left.

And that really could boost Arsenal in the absence of Bukayo Saka and their struggles with injury and not having that centre forward. They're going to be up against it, whoever they face, but...

They've done so well in Europe this season that you wouldn't write them off progressing and they're going to throw everything at it and they've got capabilities of getting through. So again, some frailties tonight defensively, but it was a much changed team. I don't think they'll worry too much about that. They'll focus on Chelsea now on Sunday, which is a big game, of course, and then an exciting, potentially exciting end to the season. What's your assessment, Henry? Do you think Raheem Sterling could have a significant role to play yet this season?

Absolutely. I never understand why players get written off. I mean, you look at someone like Raheem Sterling, who for the last sort of 10, 12 years, he's been playing at elite level. He's an elite competitor. You know, he didn't have the easiest of upbringings. I remember talking to him once and he said he was, you know, when he was a...

coming through the academy. He will be getting messages from his sister telling him where they were actually going to stay that night because they were moving around from house to house. I mean, you know, players don't forget that. You know, players are human beings and they will always have this drive, whether it's financial, whether it's glory, whether it's something in their youth that drives them on.

And that is why they get to the top. And you don't necessarily just switch that off, that competitive drive. If anything, it can get enhanced when they do get written off. So, look, as David said, he played well tonight, got two assists. I mean, it's just good to see him playing again. Look, no doubt with Rashford, there'll be some speculation. Can he get back in the England squad? I think England have so many other options now.

But you know what? He's not marching through his 30s. He's still sort of, you know, he's fit. He hasn't had any major injuries that will inhibit him long term. So, yeah, be careful about writing these competitive creatures off. Indeed. What about Arsenal's chances then, David, of progressing? Surely it is the Champions League, isn't it? We know Mikel Arteta keeps talking about the Premier League not being over. But what an opportunity for him to become the first manager to lift the trophy with Arsenal.

I don't think he'll be thinking about that just yet, Teddy. There's a huge amount of work to do. Whoever they play in the last eight and then they'll still have two matches to win if they get through. And doing so without a recognised striker makes it highly improbable that Arsenal will win the Champions League. But...

they've got to be in it to win it and they live on. They'll maybe play with a bit of freedom given there's a lack of expectation on them in this competition compared to the Premier League where everybody was expecting them to step up as soon as they saw Manchester City fall away. It was almost Arsenal's time, third time lucky and they've been overhauled by Liverpool. I don't know if they've been cowered by some of the pressure and

we saw some comments from William Saliba suggesting that his performance level has dropped this season and so has it in other positions. They've had injuries, they complain about refereeing, um,

decisions. But in the Champions League, you know, in a way they've got nothing to lose. But I don't think Arteta will be presumptuous to be thinking about lifting that trophy just yet. And I think there are other stronger teams at the moment, especially given that lack of a central front man. But who knows that they will give it their all.

Yep, and he'll probably be asked about that lack of a central striker, won't he, for quite a while to come, I'd imagine. Despite Declan Rice now getting 2-2, maybe he's becoming a goal-scoring midfielder. Let's talk Liverpool, who are out of the Champions League. Will Van Dijk be out of the club come the summer? In the Guardian Sports, Van Dijk, if anyone says they know if I'll stay, they are lying. Henry, what have you made of Van Dijk's latest comments? Have they swayed your opinion either way on whether he's staying or going?

Just watching him this season, it totally swayed my opinion, well, to where it was pretty well anchored anyway, that he has to stay at the club. He's such an important player. You saw when Darwin Nunes was trudging back heartbroken, having missed his penalty to the halfway line last night. Virgil van Dijk was the captain. He stepped out, he consoled him. You can't replace that sort of empathy, that sort of ability as a defender. I mean, simply as a centre-half alone, I know he's 33, but...

But, you know, he doesn't seem to have lost any of his pace. He's playing as well as he ever has.

You know, his passing is good. He's good in the air. He's a goal threat. He's, you know, you can't replace individuals like him easily. Who out there, centre-half-wise, could step in and do all those roles off the field, on the field, captain as well? I mean, so, look, absolutely, I hope he stays for Liverpool's sake and for the Premier League's sake. But it's clearly there are issues going on behind the scenes. We know with the...

the American owners, they're concerned about offering longer contracts to players in their 30s. I understand that from a PSR perspective, but you have to look at the individual. You have to look at Mo Salah, obviously had a difficult game last night against Nuno Mendes, but what a season he's having. I'm sure David and me and others will vote for him as Footballer of the Year. And you can't allow talent like that to leave.

And whether you can do a two-year contract with an option, however you do it, whether it's more performance-related for players in their 30s –

You just can't let talent and also good characters, good leaders like that go. So, yeah, Virgil van Dijk, absolutely Liverpool have to hold on to him. I mean, there'll be a queue going along the M62 for his services if he did decide to leave or the club were foolish enough not to offer him a proper new contract. It's a delicate one though, David, isn't it? As well as Henry says there, you can't make a blanket rule on players and ages because everyone performs at different levels into their 30s.

Well, I think you can make a rule of sorts and we've seen it at clubs over the years and Liverpool have done well implementing it. But you can also make exceptions for exceptional people and talents. And I think that's the category Van Dijk and Salah fit into. Therefore, if they weren't as good as they are, they probably would be on their way out. And

I think Liverpool are making real efforts to keep hold of both of them. We don't know how it's going to end. And he's right. People speaking about it with certainty probably don't know the full picture. I certainly don't know how it's going to end, but I know that there's confidence at Anfield and the talks are not off. So they're ongoing and they're progressing. And yeah,

there is a feeling that Van Dijk will end up staying and they'll manage to strike a deal. They want to do the same with Mo Salah and the Trent Alexander-Arnold situation is different. There is this consensus around football that he's

quite possibly on his way to Real Madrid. We'll have to see how that sort of ends, but it is quite unique in terms of their age profile and what they'd be looking for. I think it's the discussions around a two year contract for both of them. Yeah.

but their performances are actually getting better by the looks of it and that's the key factor here if you look at it that you know van dyck's returned from his acl and he appears to be even better and superior uh mo salah breaking records left right and center so

they are crucial to Liverpool. They'd be near impossible to replace, as Henry points out. But until there's ink on that paper, nothing is done. Yep, so I don't know what Trent Alexander-Arnold's long-term future either, but the male reporting injured Trent out of final, the Carabao Cup final, in a fresh blow to Liverpool. I don't know about you, Henry, but just think with Liverpool losing after extra time, the Champions League, if Trent's out as well, is the pendulum just...

edging a little bit back towards Newcastle. First trophy in 70 years. What do you think?

Well, the Newcastle fans will be, well, they're probably already on their way down south. You know, this is absolutely huge for them. But they've got the perfect manager for a situation like this in Eddie Howe because he can tap into the enthusiasm without letting himself or his players get carried away with it. I mean, they've got issues on their left side. Obviously, Anthony Gordon's suspended and Lewis Hall is out as well, which is unfortunate because you want to see the best players out.

But I mean, that is going to be quite a game. But yeah, this whole sort of pendulum thing, you know, we do like to do that in the modern world. We do sort of have pendulums swinging sort of from minute to minute, let alone month to month.

And I think, you know, writing off Liverpool. I mean, it was frustrating watching that game last night and seeing Trent Alexander-Arnold injured. It looked like his knee as well as his ankle. But I think it's Lewis Steele's piece in the mail about Trent that he'll be out for the weekend, but there's hope that he'll play for the, you know, at some point in the rest of the season because you want to see him on the pitch when Liverpool do finally...

get that title. There's also the extra element of 11 o'clock on Friday, Thomas Tuchel is going to announce the England squad and those of us who are big admirers of Trent Alexander-Arnold and think if they are going to win this World Cup, you need Trent Alexander-Arnold, England's best passer on the pitch.

You know, you want him to be right from the start of this Thomas Tuchel journey. So that's unfortunate that he may possibly, I don't know, may miss those England internationals. Absolutely, yeah. Big loss for England potentially. Let's talk about Manchester United. Massive game against Real Sociedad, 8pm Thursday evening, David. But the headlines are all about Sir Jim Ratcliffe once again in the sun at least. Ratcliffe wages war, Jim to slash Tuchel.

players pay. So Jim Ratcliffe has declared war on the bloated wage bill at Manchester United rights, Paul Sims and Richard Moriarty. It's a nice idea, David, but in a highly competitive market, if he wants better players, how realistic?

Well, it's not a day passes without a Manchester United to Jim Ratcliffe story. Yeah, he can implement this and I'm sure if Manchester United are intelligent in their recruitment, then they can find good players on lower salaries than they've been paying some of their players so far. Other clubs have shown it's possible. However, if you're trying to shop at the top table,

the best players command a level of salary that you either pay if you want them, and they tend to succeed. If you look at the wage bills for the teams in each position in the Premier League, for example, and if you don't pay it, then you're not going to get the top players. And then it will be down to your coach, in their case, Ruben Amrim, to decide

turn water into wine and improve them. It's admirable how they're sort of looking to get the house in order. It's more contentious about some of their methods for cutting costs and the sort of impact it will have. But he's certainly not going about this quietly. So Jim Ratcliffe, he's putting a lot on this and it will be down to him to show that it's vindicated over time. He's got no experience in Premier League football until this point, nor of a

club at Manchester United's size. But it's on his shoulders now. He has sporting control. And so let's see how players, their representatives react to that. It's going to be a fascinating market at Old Trafford this coming summer. Certainly, as you wonder what effect some of his words will have more generally as well, Henry, don't you? Back page of the Mirror. Now prove Jim wrong is the headline by David McDonald's story. Ruben Amorim has challenged his Manchester United players

to prove Sir Jim Ratcliffe was wrong to brand them overpaid and not good enough. We've got about a minute, Henry. It's fascinating to see how the players do react, isn't it? There's been some strong stuff thrown around by the co-owner. Yeah, but he's right. I mean, OK, you can say it's a bit rich in every sense of the word, a multi-billionaire sort of complaining about the players' wealth, but they are underperforming. I mean, ask any Manchester United fan that. Absolutely, their wages should be more performance-wise.

And I think to an extent they are in terms of you're not playing in the Champions League. I think certain players, they have a percentage of their salary comes down anyway. So they're almost waging war, wages war on themselves actually by their inability on the pitch. But I think he's completely right. They haven't been delivering and that's been one of the parts of the problem. Plus also the sheer inadequacies in the recruitment department.

Feels like a massive game, doesn't it, Thursday? We'll see if they progress in the Europa League and still in with that shot at Champions League qualification against the odds. David and Henry, been great to have your company on Back Pages tonight. Hope to see you again soon.