Aston Villa secured a share of the spoils in a goalless draw with Juventus in the Champions League on Wednesday night, as we picked up an important point in our bid to advance to the knockout stage.
Five games into our European campaign, Villa now sit in ninth place in the standings as we remain firmly in contention to progress automatically through a top-eight spot, and so with three more games to go, we’re well positioned to make it through.
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Barring the disappointment in Bruges, this was another solid performance in the Champions League as we kept another clean sheet, but ultimately there was a sense of frustration too that we couldn’t step up a gear and secure all three points against a Juventus side that lacked quality.
Nevertheless, it’s another result to build on as we try to get out of our current slump in form having gone seven games without a win across all competitions, and hopefully it’s rebuilding confidence and momentum to spark an improved run in the coming weeks.
Emery pleased with strong defensive display
Emery praised the defensive effort of his side after the game, as it was a well-earned clean sheet in a solid team performance as we looked harder to beat and eradicated costly mistakes, both individual and collective.
Villa have been conceding far too many goals in the Premier League so far this season as we have the worst defensive record of the top 10 sides in the table currently, and although we’ve been consistently much better in Europe, it was a big positive to see us deliver this level again.
Importantly though, this now has to be the standard we stay at. Chelsea will be a real threat on Sunday with the attacking quality that they have in their ranks, but we must continue to defend diligently and with resilience to put ourselves in good positions to win games.
Emi Martinez, the world’s number one
Although it was a quiet night for the Argentine shot-stopper, he showcased why he’s still the best in the world with a sensational second-half save to deny Francisco Conceicao from close range.
The goal-line technology showed just how close it was to creeping in, but Martinez’s quick reaction and elite goalkeeping skills kept it out and that in turn proved to be a decisive moment in the contest.
After being celebrated prior to kick-off for winning the Yashin Trophy for a second consecutive year, that moment of brilliance showed why Martinez remains at the top of his game.
No Kamara, no party
While it was highlighted prior to the game, the importance of having Boubacar Kamara back from injury can’t be stressed highly enough given how influential he is for us in midfield.
Having been sidelined again by injury in recent weeks, there was a concern that he might be slightly rusty and off the pace in this clash, but the Frenchman was excellent both in and out of possession.
Whether it was winning duels, providing a defensive shield in front of the back to disrupt Juve’s play or showing composure with the ball to keep us in control, Kamara’s return is fundamental for Villa and Emery in finding our best form again.
Villa denied victory by soft decision
The general consensus after the game was that it was a soft decision to rule out our injury-time winner, but there was also an acceptance that perhaps while that would stand in the Premier League, there’s a stricter threshold in UEFA competitions.
Nevertheless, it was still a frustrating end to the game as it looked as though we’d won it at the death, but ultimately Villa were forced to settle for a point.
That said, the referee was poor in this one from start to finish, and the Villa faithful weren’t shy in letting him know. From dishing out early yellow cards to our players but then not showing the same consistency with Juventus for similar infractions to then the biggest decision of the night, he was a source of real frustration.
Rogers still searching for form
While the same could be said for a few of his teammates, perhaps the expectation and demand on Morgan Rogers is slightly higher now given we’ve seen what he’s capable of through the early part of this season and the back-end of last year.
The 22-year-old has lost a sense of sharpness and confidence in what he’s doing in the final third, be it losing possession cheaply, trying too much or simply not executing the pass he wants to make accurately enough.
Importantly, he’s still getting into good positions and posing a threat so that positional awareness and intelligence is obviously still there, but he needs to rediscover that power and pace he showed previously to become a nightmare for opposing defences again.