The initial three minutes of stoppage time had passed when Morgan Rogers thought he had secured a dramatic late win for Aston Villa against Juventus with what seemed like the final kick of the match.
Teun Koopmeiners committed a careless foul in midfield, giving Youri Tielemans one last chance to send the ball into the box. Diego Carlos leaped to challenge Juventus goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio for the high ball, but it slipped through his gloves and fell free at the back post. Rogers seized the opportunity, hooking the ball into an empty net.
The scoreboards in the corners of the stadium flashed in Villa's favor, but after a brief delay, it became clear that Carlos had been penalized by Spanish referee Jesús Gil Manzano for a slight collision. The final whistle was met with jeers from the home crowd, still processing the turn of events.
Ollie Watkins called the foul “soft,” and though disappointed, Villa manager Unai Emery expressed a sense of resignation, acknowledging the different standards of officiating in European competitions compared to the Premier League.
“The English referees wouldn’t interpret that as a foul, but in Europe, the interpretation is different,” Emery explained. “They need to work towards having the same decisions on these types of actions. I don’t know why, but we know that in the Premier League, the interpretation is different. We don’t make blocks the way we do in the Premier League. When it happened, I thought, ‘In Europe, that’s a foul.’”
Before the disallowed goal, the standout moment came from Villa goalkeeper Emiliano MartÃnez. Just 15 minutes before the match kicked off, MartÃnez paraded around the pitch to celebrate becoming the first goalkeeper to win the Yashin Trophy twice. About an hour later, he demonstrated why he's so highly regarded, with a brilliant, instinctive save to deny Francisco Conceição midway through the second half. Goal-line technology showed MartÃnez had kept the ball out by mere millimeters, with the Champions League ball still fractionally on the line, not over it.
Juventus, with far more experience on this stage compared to Villa, earned the point they likely deserved. In the second half, Juventus captain Manuel Locatelli stretched out a left boot to deny John McGinn a chance to convert a Leon Bailey cutback. Earlier, Lucas Digne rattled the crossbar with a free-kick from the edge of the box.
For Villa, a draw against the Serie A giants will likely be seen as a credible result, but it extends their winless streak to seven matches. The last time Villa went seven games without a win was under Dean Smith four years ago, during their battle to avoid relegation. McGinn, Ezri Konsa, and Tyrone Mings were all in the starting lineup then, as was Douglas Luiz, who missed out on his Villa Park return due to a muscle injury.
Emery hasn’t experienced a seven-match winless run since his dismissal from Arsenal in November 2019, following a home defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt that sealed his fate. While he endured a six-game winless run at the end of last season, qualification for this competition had already been secured by then.
For Villa, there’s no immediate cause for panic, though a tricky run of fixtures could stretch their winless streak to eight matches, especially with a challenging trip to Chelsea on Sunday. Villa, currently ninth in the Champions League standings, remain in a strong position. Emery reflected on Juventus, saying, "We were playing against favorites to be in the top eight. They are contenders to win this competition. In our last three matches, we will try to be ambitious and compete for the top eight."
Before the match, Juventus manager Thiago Motta had accused Emery of bluffing after the Villa manager suggested he would be happy with a point. Motta claimed it was a "poker face," possibly because Juventus arrived in Birmingham with a depleted squad, traveling with only 17 players and naming just six substitutes, two of whom were goalkeepers. In the end, the match was decided by the performances of the goalkeepers.
Juventus came closest to taking the lead in the 65th minute. A corner from Koopmeiners whipped in, and the ball found Francisco Conceição unmarked at the back post. For a brief moment, the Portuguese winger started to celebrate, believing he had scored, only to realize that Villa's Emiliano MartÃnez had somehow kept the ball out. MartÃnez dove to his right, stretching out to claw the ball off the line with his glove—just enough to prevent a goal. It was a similar story in the dying moments, when Carlos was adjudged to have fouled Juventus keeper Michele Di Gregorio. Motta smiled and simply said, “It wasn’t a goal.”
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