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Juventus coach Thiago Motta reveals Unai Emery's 'great bluff' and Aston Villa stance

Juventus manager Thiago Motta

Juventus manager Thiago Motta

Juventus boss Thiago Motta doesn't believe Unai Emery would settle for a point on Wednesday night after the Aston Villa manager claimed a draw would be a good result for his side.

Motta played under Emery at Paris Saint-Germain between 2016 and 2018 and will face his former manager for the first time at Villa Park. Juve are two points behind Villa in the league phase table after winning two, drawing one and losing one of their four fixtures.

Villa, meanwhile, won all three of their opening games without conceding before losing their last Champions League match against Club Brugge in bizarre circumstances after Tyrone Mings gave away a penalty for picking the ball up inside the box unaware that Emi Martinez had taken a goal kick.

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In his pre-match press conference ahead of facing Juve, Emery said: "They are very important three points, but even if we are not winning and taking only one point, it’s good. Our objective is to be in the next round."

Asked by the Italian media about Emery's comments, Motta responded: "I think Emery made a great bluff today! I said I did not watch the interview. Maybe I will watch it and see if he was bluffing or not."

He continued: "Like every coach I had, I tried to listen and learn and improve. He is a high level coach, he has been for a long time. He has knowledge and is competitive. He is showing that now with Aston Villa, who have been working with consistency in a difficult league. It’s also a reason why we will be humble on the pitch and respect the opponent.

"Tomorrow we will face a great team, a team that has for a long time playing well and has had great results in the Champions League. They have played teams like Bayern Munich. We will take to the pitch very humble and respecting the opponent as normal. We will give our best to perform great."

Motta is currently dealing with an injury crisis and has only named 14 outfield players in his squad to face Villa. Douglas Luiz, Gleison Bremer, Juan Cabal, Nico Gonzalez, Dusan Vlahovic and Weston McKennie are all injured.

"There is only one way to face a situation like this," Motta explained. "The rest is irrelevant. Today, bringing a youth player knowing I wouldn’t be using them, it would be useless. I’m nice and calm and convinced that I trust my players that they will perform very well tomorrow.

"I trust my players, they are fully responsible and they show me everyday that they want something more. We drew at Milan and we played a great game. I said to them in the dressing room, I trust myself and in my players too."

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