Aston Villa scored three unanswered goals and came agonisingly close to a famous comeback, but a 3-2 win at Villa Park was not enough as they fell 4-5 on aggregate to Paris Saint-Germain, who progressed to the UEFA Champions League semi-finals.
The Villans looked dead and buried after twice getting caught on the break in the opening half-hour to trail by four goals in the tie, but roared back, first through Youri Tielemans’ deflected goal before the break.
John McGinn – via another deflection – and then Ezri Konsa, following inspired Marcus Rashford wing-play, scored in two crazy second-half minutes to send Villa Park wild and seriously rattle PSG.
The hosts had chances to level it, with Konsa missing a header from close range and Marco Asensio – on loan from PSG – forcing Gianluigi Donnarumma into an excellent save. PSG also squandered chances late on as the game opened up, before a goal-bound Ian Maatsen volley was dramatically blocked in the final minute of added time.
Ultimately, however, it was two sloppy goals, brilliantly taken by PSG full-backs Nuno Mendes and Achraf Hakimi in the opening 30 minutes, which truly cost Villa a chance of advancing or at least taking the tie to extra-time.
PSG will play the winners of the tie between Arsenal and Real Madrid in the last four, having shown both defensive fragility and astonishing attacking riches over the course of this quarter-final.