Scotland hero takes centre stage in Champions League thriller and makes history in process

Scotland midfielder John McGinn so nearly inspired a remarkable comeback for Aston Villa in a gripping Champions League quarter-final in Birmingham.

Villa captain McGinn became the first Scotsman to score in the quarter-finals of the Champions League since its knock-out stages were expanded in the 1994/95 edition of the competition. However, his efforts ultimately ended up in vain as they were narrowly edged out by Paris Saint-Germain.

Trailing 3-0 from last week’s first leg in the Parc des Princes, Unai Emery’s men looked down and out by the 28th minute of the second leg at Villa Park when goals from Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes put the French Ligue 1 champions 5-1 ahead of aggregate.

John McGinn scores Aston Villa's second goal against PSG. | Getty Images

But Villa refused to lie down. McGinn set up Youri Tielemans for a goal just before the break and then the 30-year-old ex-Hibs and St Mirren man made it 2-2 on the night on 55 minutes with an effort from just outside the penalty box that took a deflection on its way past Gianluigi Donnarumma in the PSG goal.

Villa Park was now boisterous and the hosts took the lead on the night two minutes later when Ezri Konsa drilled the ball home, sparking wild scenes inside the stadium.

Konsa, McGinn, Marco Asensio and Ian Maatsen all had chances to find the leveller in a pulsating end to the encounter, but PSG held on and will now face either Arsenal or Real Madrid in the last four, with the Gunners holding a 3-0 advantage from the first leg.

McGinn’s excellent rating for Villa

McGinn played 67 minutes for Villa before being replaced by Asensio and was given a rating of 8.6 by Flashscore for his performance - the highest of any player. He also became the first player from Scotland to score at this stage of the tournament since its revamp in the mid-90s.

Elsewhere on Tuesday, Serhou Guirassy scored a hat-trick for Borussia Dortmund as they defeated Barcelona 3-1 at the Signal Iduna Park. However, Barca progress 5-3 on aggregate and will play either Internazionale or Bayern Munich - the conquerors of Celtic - in the semi-final. Inter lead 2-1 from the first leg at the Allianz Arena.