The reason behind assistant referee Alessandro Giallatini's emotional outburst following Aston Villa's thrilling 3-2 victory over RB Leipzig has been explained. The Italian official was seen in tears, sharing a poignant moment with Leipzig manager Marco Rose as the teams and coaching staff exchanged handshakes post-match in Germany.
Giallatini had just officiated Villa's latest Champions League triumph, where Ross Barkley's deflected strike in the 85th minute propelled Unai Emery's squad to third place in the table, setting them on track for automatic knockout stage qualification. .
This marked Villa's fourth win from six Champions League matches, having twice recovered their lead after John McGinn and Jhon Duran put them ahead. As Villa's ecstatic supporters celebrated the victory at full-time, Giallatini was experiencing a different kind of emotion.
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This is because Tuesday's match signified the 49-year-old's final game as an assistant referee. Among Giallatini's career highlights is his role in the 2020 Champions League final between Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain.
Amazon Prime Video Sport pundit and Portugal manager Roberto Martinez praised Giallatini's passion for football, having just witnessed a gripping match. Leipzig, now eliminated from knockout phase contention, managed to equalize twice, but Villa proved too formidable, as they have against Bayern Munich, Bologna, and Young Boys so far.
The drama at Villa Park was palpable as McGinn's early strike instantly stirred the crowd, only for Lois Openda to hush the home fans with an equalizer. The gripping narrative continued as Duran reclaimed the lead after the break, but again Hoffenheim's Baumgartner drew level.
It fell to Barkley’s speculative effort, aided by Klostermann's deflection, to seal the fate of the match. Reflecting on the rollercoaster encounter, Emery told Amazon, "We tried to overcome the mistakes we made and we did. More or less we were playing consistently."
Emery delved further into the game's intensity, "One mistake and they score but then we played very well. Champions League is very difficult and we have to expect that every team playing at home are feeling strong. We played with consistency and domination.
"Today we were thinking if we won we could be a contender in the last two matches to be in the top eight. We achieved this option and we are going to try and get top eight. We are happy because we are in the top 24."