Fans have been left baffled after watching Aston Villa vs Paris Saint Germain in the Champions League.
On Tuesday night, a dramatic night unfolded inside Villa Park as Unai Emery’s men looked to overturn a 3-1 first-leg defeat against PSG.
The visitors seemingly put the tie out of Villa‘s reach after Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes made it 2-0 inside the first 30 minutes.
However, Youri Tielemans’ goal in the 34th minute gave Villa hope heading into the second half.
John McGinn then drew Villa level before Ezri Konsa made it 3-2 in the 57th minute, setting up a nervy end to the match.
With 67 minutes on the clock, Unai Emery made the decision to bring on Marco Asensio.
The decision left fans slightly confused as Asensio joined Villa on loan from PSG during the January transfer window.
On social media, one fan said: “Does uefa rules work differently?
“How can Asensio play for Villa when he’s played for PSG already in this competition and on loan from them.”
Another tweeted: “Asensio playing against PSG while on loan Villa is sending me under.”
A third fan added: “What is this rule where you can play against your parent club, don’t think I like that.”
In the Premier League, players are not allowed to play against their parent club.
Why was Marco Asensio allowed to play against PSG?
However, in UEFA competitions, that rule does not apply.
As reported by talkSPORT, Asensio was allowed to play against PSG as UEFA rules state ‘that clubs cannot apply ‘any influence whatsoever over the players that another club may (or may not) field in a match’.
Earlier in the season, Villa star Samuel Iling-Junior was allowed to play for Bologna at Villa Park after joining the Italian outfit on loan from the Premier League side.
A few years ago, Philippe Coutinho scored twice for Bayern Munich when he played against parent club Barcelona, with the Bavarians coming away 8-2 winners.
Back in 2014, Thibaut Courtois played against Chelsea while on loan at Atletico Madrid, with Diego Simeone’s side winning 3-1.
Eventually, PSG held on to advance 5-4 on aggregate and will take on either Arsenal or Real Madrid in the semi-final.
