Late controversy as Aston Villa frustrated by Juventus

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·28 November 2024

Late controversy as Aston Villa frustrated by Juventus

Aston Villa drew with European powerhouse Juventus last night at Villa Park in the Champions League.

There wasn’t the same buzz inside Villa Park as we experienced when Bayern came to town. I am unsure if that’s due to our current run of form (no wins in seven games in all competitions) or the number of Premium tickets that seem to be increasing within the ground. Saying that the game was hardly exciting as both sides frustrated each other in what seemed more of a chess game than a football game.

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I keep hearing about ways the game can be improved in various media outlets but all I can think about is they should never have changed something that wasn’t broken in the first place. Yes, I am talking about VAR. This has made officials lazy and incompetent, and we are left with more questions than answers than before VAR’s introduction.

Report: Aston Villa 0-0 Juventus

Unai Emery made three changes to the side that drew with Crystal Palace at the weekend. Matty Cash, Boubacar Kamara and Lucas Digne all came into the starting line-up.

As I previously mentioned, it was largely a frustrating watch with the Italians enjoying falling to the floor at every opportunity and quite happy sitting back despite dominating early possession.

The first real chance of note came late in the first half when Digne tried to replicate the free-kick he scored with France while on International duty but his effort grazed the cross-bar.

Ollie Watkins, who caused problems to the Juventus back-line also came close but his snapshot was denied by Michele Di Gregorio.

The visitors offered little threat throughout the game but when they did Francisco Conceição was usually involved. The winger did come close with a header but Emi Martinez pulled off a wonder save to deny the Portuguese international.

Villa probably should have taken the lead mid-way through the second half but John McGinn was denied by Di Gregorio when it looked easier to score.

Morgan Rogers thought he had won the game late on but celebrations were cut short with confusion in the ground. After a lengthy spell, the referee had denied the goal due to a very soft foul on the goalkeeper despite appearing to signal for a goal before.

Aston Villa are now 9th in the Champions League on 10 points with some suggesting it should be enough to see them through to the knock-out stages.

What the manager said

Emery: “I’m very happy. We dominated the match. With the last action, it is the interpretation of the referee. In England, 80 per cent of those is given a goal and it not a foul. It’s very soft.

“But in Europe, it could be a foul. We have to accept. We were closer than them to winning the match. They’re very difficult to beat but we created a plan. There weren’t many clear chances for either team.

“It was a tight match for both teams but I am happy with the overall picture in the Champions League. We still have the possibility of finishing in the top eight.”