Marco Asensio's Paris St-Germain career has been forgettable - but he now has the chance to make them remember his name.
The 29-year-old can face his parent club in their Champions League quarter-final showdown against Aston Villa next month, after moving from Parc des Princes to Villa Park on loan in February.
His second-half double in Wednesday's 3-0 [6-1 aggregate] victory over Club Brugge in the last 16 puts him on a collision course with PSG, who beat Liverpool on penalties on Tuesday.
Uefa rules state clubs cannot apply "any influence whatsoever over the players that another club may (or may not) field in a match" - meaning PSG's Champions League dream could end at the hands of their own player.
Asensio helped Real Madrid to three Champions League titles before moving to Paris in 2023, only for his career to stall with just seven goals in 43 appearances over 18 months - even if he did win the French league and cup Double last season.
That stutter came after he won 17 trophies at Real, as many as a player considered one of the greatest in world football - Alfredo di Stefano.
A move to Villa has reinvigorated him, and only PSG's Ousmane Dembele [eight] has scored more goals in Europe's big five leagues across all competitions than Asensio since his debut for Villa last month [seven].
Those goals have come in eight games - three in the last-16 tie against Club Brugge - with the Spain attacking midfielder willing to wait before focusing on his return to Paris.
He said: "[I'm] very comfortable. Very happy with the team-mates, the fans and the city. In one or two weeks we have time to think about this [PSG] game.
"I'm very happy for the team and the fans.
"Every match the atmosphere is top. We want more. Now we have a little break and to think about the upcoming objectives.
"I like to score there [the Holte End]. We're adapting to the new players but we're in the right way."
Manager Unai Emery remained coy when asked if he would like to buy Asensio in the summer, but remains delighted with his impact.
"It depends, of course we are happy with him," he said. "We are protecting him because he is not 100%, but more or less he was feeling good.
"He wanted to start but I decided to protect him as well. How he played 45 minutes was fantastic for us. We needed him and he took the responsibility to take his task."
Former Arsenal and England defender Matt Upson told BBC Radio 5 Live he believes Asensio is world class, saying: "He's going to play a big part in the exciting finish to the season they have ahead."
European football journalist Julien Laurens added: "Asensio certainly seems happy to be used as a super sub, and maybe that's how Unai Emery sees him for now, as an impact player."
Asensio is not the first loan player who will have faced their parent club - Villa's Samuel Iling-Junior played against them for Bologna in the Champions League extended group stage in October while on loan at the Serie A side.
Thibaut Courtois faced Chelsea while on loan at Atletico Madrid, despite the Blues' demands they paid a reported £2.5m fee per game. When they were drawn against each other in the 2013-14 semi-finals, Atletico said they could not afford to pay the fee.
They went to Uefa, who said any such deal that "might function in such a way as to influence who a club fields in a match is null, void and unenforceable", allowing Courtois to play the two legs without £5m being paid.
Lomana LuaLua ended up forcing the Premier League to change its rules at the end of 2003-04 to stop loan players being able to face their parent clubs.
Portsmouth signed the DR Congo winger on a three-month loan from Newcastle United in February 2004 - the first season such moves were permitted.
Four weeks later, on his first start for Portsmouth, he netted an 89th-minute equaliser against the Magpies.
You can read about them and more - including Philippe Coutinho and Fernando Morientes - here.
English (US) ·