John McGinn insists everyone associated with Aston Villa deserves to enjoy the club’s progression to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League.
Unai Emery’s side celebrated a 3-0 triumph over Club Brugge at Villa Park on Wednesday night, Marco Asensio with a brace and Ian Maatsen bagging his maiden goal in claret and blue after the visitors were reduced to 10 men in the first half.
The 6-1 aggregate success ensured Villa booked their place in the last eight of Europe’s elite club competition for the first time since 1983 – and will now face Paris Saint-Germain.
They are joined in the quarter-finals by Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Arsenal and Real Madrid.
And McGinn believes all connected with the club can cherish this special moment.
Speaking post-match, he told VillaTV: “I think there was a lot of pressure on us tonight, the start of the game we probably played like that.
“But credit to Club Brugge, we had a lot of respect for them. We knew they could compete like that.
“And then you play against 10 men, we still were the poorer team on the pitch, no doubt, in the first half.
“But during that, the important thing was to keep the clean sheet, don’t give them any opportunity or a sniff or getting that first goal. That was the main thing.
“Incredible opportunity for us tonight, I think it was tough watching the game last night (Liverpool v PSG) knowing we still had a job to do. Obviously, it was an exciting game to watch.
“For us, as players, for supporters, to go over to Paris, what an occasion that will be and hopefully it comes around soon and we do ourselves justice.”
McGinn continued: “I’m sure we’ll certainly compete, no doubt, and our aim is to go one step further.
“You just never, never know in this competition. We’re now in the final eight.
“We fully deserve it. I think this season in the Champions League we’ve been outstanding. Obviously, very inconsistent in the Premier League but what an exciting end to the season and we’ve earned it.
“We’ve worked so, so hard to get to this position and everyone at the club deserves it.
“We’ve had some tough, tough times, the supporters have, us as players as well, we’ve been in the trenches and we need to enjoy moments like this.
“We want to make this a regular occurrence, these nights at Villa Park - the club deserves it, the supporters deserve it and us as players deserve it.
“We want to make the most of it and have no regrets.
“We’re over the moon and super proud.”