Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has acknowledged that it was a difficult decision to leave Andres Garcia and Donyell Malen out of his Champions League squad.
The Premier League outfit have earned a place in the last 16 of the competition having finish in the top eight of the League Phase standings.
However, Emery has been required to select his squad for the next stage over the past 24 hours, despite not returning to continental action until early in March.
As many as five signings were made during the winter transfer window, with the additions of Garcia and Malen being followed by that of Marcus Rashford, Marco Asensio and Axel Disasi.
Despite the latter trio all arriving at the West Midlands club on Sunday and Monday, they have been given the nod by Emery, who was only allowed to add three players to his squad.
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Disappointment for Garcia, Malen
Therefore, both Garcia and Malen face the disappointment of missing out on any European action during the closing three-and-a-half months of the season, despite that likely having been at the forefront of their minds when signing their respective deals.
At a press conference on Friday, Emery has admitted that he did not relish the experience of dropping the pair from his plans for the Champions League.
The Spaniard told reporters: "The rules only can accept and register three changes. We did more changes in the transfer window than we wanted.
"Even though we lost one player more because Jaden (Philogene) was a club-trained player and we lost the opportunity through him to have one more.
"We changed five players and can only register three. The decisions we had to take yesterday and are out are Andres Garcia and Donyell Malen. Of course, it's not a good decision I had to take yesterday, but I spoke with Andres and Donyell to tell them the decision and I argued my decision with them."
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Problems ahead?
In the case of Garcia, he only experienced his first-ever top-flight fixture as a professional when starting against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League on Saturday.
As for Malen, though, the Netherlands international represented Borussia Dortmund in the group stage and played for the German giants in last season's final.
Part of his decision to join Villa would have been the lure of Champions League football, yet he has been excluded with just 70 minutes of Premier League football under his belt.
How Emery handles the situation remains to be seen. Villa have just committed to paying a potential £22.4m for Malen, yet the inclusion of three loanees has been given priority.
Darren Plant
