BIRMINGHAM, England — Unai Emery said Marcus Rashford’s future at Aston Villa “depends on the next weeks” after the on-loan Manchester United forward inspired a dramatic Champions League fightback against Paris Saint-Germain that almost saved the tie for the Premier League side.
Having suffered a 3-1 first-leg defeat in Paris last week, Villa found themselves 5-1 down on aggregate after Luis Enrique’s team raced onto a 2-0 lead on the night with goals from Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes inside the opening half hour.
But after Youri Tielemans pulled one back for Villa before half-time, Rashford’s pace and creativity sparked Emery’s team into a second-half surge as goals from John McGinn and Ezri Konsa put them 3-2 ahead and trailing 5-4 on aggregate.
Rashford is on loan at Villa from United until the end of the season and available for a pre-agreed £40 million ($52.9 million) transfer fee, but Emery said a decision on the 28-year-old’s future is still to be made.
“It is difficult to plan it now,” Emery said. “He [Rashford] is feeling better and he played a fantastic match.
“We are very happy. If he is happy, we are happy. It depends on the circumstances for now and the next weeks.”
Villa exit the Champions League with an unbeaten home record in their first appearance in the competition since reaching the quarterfinals as defending European champions in 1982-83.
And with Villa chasing a top-five finish in the Premier League that will secure a return to the Champions League next season, Emery said Villa’s objective now is to end the campaign on a high.
“It is now most important to get Europe again,” Emery said. “The most important competition is the Champions League.
“The challenge we have for the last six matches is to try and get Europe and the Champions League.
“I am very proud of everything. Getting to this level is the next step forward and I want to try to win with Aston Villa.
“We played two legs, we competed well and it wasn’t even. Today we competed better and we were close to the result. I want to try to work for my next process at Aston Villa. The crowd was fantastic, they gave us energy. Even at 2-0. Still, a little bit more to do better to try to get it.”
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