W ith the UEFA Champions League about to enter its knockout phase next week after the final round of league phase play last week, Europe's top clubs had big decisions to make rega

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Aston Villa signed Donyell Malen, Andres Garcia, Marcus Rashford, Marco Asensio and Axel Disasi in the winter window

Unai Emery has confirmed new signings Andres Garcia and Donyell Malen will be left out of the Aston Villa squad for the Champions League’s knockout rounds.UEFA rules dictate that a maximum of three

The Dutch forward was sold an ambitious project by Unai Emery, with the cachet of Champions League football carrying significant appeal

But with Villa suffering something of a defensive crisis, Emery has instead opted for centre-back Alex Disasi, a deadline day loan signing from Chelsea. Fellow loan signings Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio have also been picked. He said: “The rules only can register three changes. We changed five players and only we can register three.

The January window has left Man City, Aston Villa and Spurs with some UEFA registration dilemmas; most teams can only register three new players between the league phase and the knockout rounds - City,

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery ‘argued’ with two of his January signings after being forced to exclude them from the club’s Champions League squad. Donyell Malen and Andres Garcia will not feature for the Villans in the knockout phase of the European competition.