Juventus legend Alessandro del Piero labels one Aston Villa star 'incredible' after Champions League clash
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As goalless draws go, Aston Villa’s Champions League stalemate with Juventus on Wednesday night was about as exciting as they come.
While neither the Midland outfit or the Italian giants would break the deadlock at Villa Park, it’s fair to say both sides came pretty close.
Lucas Digne’s form has been so impressive under Unai Emery that, TBR understands, Aston Villa have cooled their interest in Juventus’ Andrea Cambiaso. Only the crossbar denied the Frenchman a stunning opener as a trademark Digne free-kick clipped the Juve crossbar.
Controversy reigned in stoppage time, meanwhile, as Morgan Rogers was denied his Jhon Duran vs Bayern Munich moment.
Diego Carlos was harshly adjudged to have fouled goalkeeper Michele di Gregorio in the build up by referee Gil Manzano. A decision reminiscent of Sol Campbell’s would-be winner against Portugal at Euro 2004 for those old enough to recall the days when Urs Meier was public enemy number one.
Juventus hero Alessandro del Piero hails Aston Villa’s Emi Martinez
Juventus, of course, felt a little hard done by themselves to end up with a draw. While Unai Emery admitted he would have been happy with a point pre-match, Juventus boss Thiago Motta was dreaming of a win at Villa Park.
And he might have got one, too, had Emiliano Martinez not recaptured his World Cup-winning brilliance to deny Francisco Conceicao with a remarkable reaction save from almost point-blank range.
“I have to say that it was an open match. Aston Villa perhaps tried to keep control of the game more because they play this type of game,” Juventus and Italy legend Alessandro Del Piero said post-match in his analysis role for Sky Italia.
“So, [Villa] gave the impression of holding the field a little better. Juve, from the point of view of compactness and unity, took the right risks. They also risked scoring [but] Martinez made an incredible save.
“So, basically, it’s a draw that’s fair in this match.”
Conceicao, the former Porto and Ajax winger who’s bamboozling footwork has made him a fans favourite in those black and white stripes, has never scored a header in his senior career. He might not get a better chance to end that particular wait, Conceicao left free at the far post to nod home following a corner but left in disbelief by a sprawling Martinez.
Francisco Conceicao can’t believe he didn’t net Champions League winner
“I think we played a good game but we knew it [would be] a difficult game here at Aston Villa,” Conceicao tells Sky. “But I think we deserved the three points and now we move on to win the next games.
“It’s difficult because the ball arrived and I wanted to score. It’s difficult, but there was a good save by Dibu [Martinez].”
With three wins and a draw from their five Champions League games so far – only Joel Ordonez’s Club Brugge have defeated Aston Villa in the revamped league stage – the 1982 European Champions are very well placed to secure a top-eight place with RB Leipzig, Monaco and Celtic to come.
Thanks partly to Martinez’s supreme shot-stopping talents, Aston Villa have also conceded only one goal from five matches against Bayern Munich, Club Brugge, Young Boys, Bologna and Juventus.
Only Inter Milan have a better defensive record at this stage.
