Aston Villa fans will feel hard done by after their goalless draw against Juventus in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
It wasn’t an end-to-end game because both teams were very tactical and patient in their approach, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t many talking points.
Morgan Rogers had a stoppage-time winner disallowed, with replays showing that the opposition goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio absolutely milked a supposed foul on him by Diego Carlos.
But Aston Villa fans were annoyed with the referee overall because his officiating was beyond, beyond pathetic.
There weren’t many clear-cut chances during the game. Both Pau Torres and Lucas Digne did hit the crossbar from set-plays.
Whilst John McGinn missed a guilt edge chance in the second-half to score, but his effort was blocked off the line by a defensively-strong Juventus team.
But there was, like always, one moment of magic from the best goalkeeper in the world Emi Martinez.
Emi Martinez sends message to Aston Villa fans after clean sheet v Juventus
Whilst Villa should have won that game against Thiago Motta’s side, it still required a moment of magic from Martinez.
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The Aston Villa shot-stopper produced a stunning low-hand save to deny Francisco Conceicao’s downward header at the near post from a corner.
The Juve winger was about to wheel away in celebration because he thought it was in, that’s how good the save was.
But, after the match, Martinez took to Instagram to thank the Villa fans for a night ‘I will remember for a long time’ after he was paraded on the pitch with his Yashin trophies, with his kids.
Emiliano Martinez of Aston Villa makes a save off a shot from Andrea Cambiaso of Juventus during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD5...
Photo by Carl Recine – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images
“Another special night at home, thank you @avfcofficial,” wrote Martinez. “It was a night I will remember for a long time ❤️ #villafans❤️.”
Angel di Maria sends a message to Martinez
Whilst Martinez was producing magic for Villa in the Midlands over in Monaco – Villa’s opponents in January – Benfica were producing a stunning comeback to win 3-2.
Angel di Maria produced two late assists to help his side claim three valuable points and now they are one point behind ninth-placed Villa in the Champions League table.
When Martinez posted about the Villa game on IG, in the comments section of his post di Maria simply wrote ‘Puffff. How great you are’.
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