Here’s Ben Fisher’s report from Villa Park.
Unai Emery was speaking to TNT Sports: “Very happy, we were dominating some of the match. The action is clear was the interpretation of the referee. In England, soft, not contact. At the beginning he was giving us the goal but we have to accept it. We played a serious match. We tried to avoid the mistakes of the previous match. We were closer to winning the match. This is a fantastic save. They are building a team, in the process but very difficult to play against. More of less it was a very tight match. Three wins, one draw and one defeat is very good. There’s always the possibility of getting in the top eight.”
The table after Matchday 5: Villa are just outside the top eight. Juve, just two points behind, are down among the scrabblers. This is tight going into the last three matches.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 5 | 11 | 15 |
| 2 | Inter Milan | 5 | 7 | 13 |
| 3 | Barcelona | 5 | 13 | 12 |
| 4 | Borussia Dortmund | 5 | 10 | 12 |
| 5 | Atalanta | 5 | 10 | 11 |
| 6 | Bayer Leverkusen | 5 | 6 | 10 |
| 7 | Arsenal | 5 | 6 | 10 |
| 8 | Monaco | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| 9 | Aston Villa | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| 10 | Sporting | 5 | 3 | 10 |
| 11 | Brest | 5 | 3 | 10 |
| 12 | Lille | 5 | 2 | 10 |
| 13 | Bayern Munich | 5 | 5 | 9 |
| 14 | Benfica | 5 | 3 | 9 |
| 15 | Atletico Madrid | 5 | 2 | 9 |
| 16 | AC Milan | 5 | 2 | 9 |
| 17 | Man City | 5 | 6 | 8 |
| 18 | PSV | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| 19 | Juventus | 5 | 2 | 8 |
| 20 | Celtic | 5 | 0 | 8 |
| 21 | Feyenoord | 5 | -3 | 7 |
| 22 | Club Brugge | 5 | -3 | 7 |
| 23 | Dinamo Zagreb | 5 | -5 | 7 |
| 24 | Real Madrid | 5 | 0 | 6 |
| 25 | PSG | 5 | -3 | 4 |
| 26 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 5 | -4 | 4 |
| 27 | Stuttgart | 5 | -7 | 4 |
| 28 | Sparta Prague | 5 | -9 | 4 |
| 29 | Sturm Graz | 5 | -4 | 3 |
| 30 | Girona | 5 | -5 | 3 |
| 31 | Red Star Belgrade | 5 | -8 | 3 |
| 32 | Red Bull Salzburg | 5 | -12 | 3 |
| 33 | Bologna | 5 | -6 | 1 |
| 34 | RB Leipzig | 5 | -6 | 0 |
| 35 | Slovan Bratislava | 5 | -14 | 0 |
| 36 | Young Boys | 5 | -15 | 0 |
More from Ollie Watkins: “I thought it was soft. It had 0-0 written all over it, so it would have been lucky had we won it. Referees don’t let things go in this competition as much in the Premier League. I have to be careful with what I say, but it’s out of our control really.”
He’s being diplomatic. That was not a penalty. Di Gregorio showed off his theatrical skills and Thiago Motta couldn’t help but laugh.
“It’s soft, maybe you know. In the Premier League it’s a goal,” says Ollie Watkins. He admits it would have been a lucky win. “It had 0-0 written all over it,”
Full-time: Aston Villa 0-0 Juventus
It will be recalled for Morgan Rogers’ late goal being ruled out. It looked unjust and Juventus look very happy to get away with it. Thiago Motta has a broad smile. Villa fans are incandescent. They wuz robbed, though perhaps it wasn’t the best performance.
Goal ruled out! It finishes 0-0.
90+5 min: Juve claim their goalie was fouled. Diego Carlos was on the scene but that was no foul. Is VAR in session? It seems so. But it’s hard to say. The referee has given a free-kick…booooo. That was a terrible decision.
Goal! Aston Villa 1-0 Juventus (Rogers, 90+4)
90+3 min: Last chance, free-kick. Austin McPhee dishes the instructions. The ball is pumped at Di Gregorio who drops the ball. Rogers takes it down and…scores.
Updated
90+2 min: Mbangula goes on a mazy run but runs into traffic. Diego Carlos comes away with it, four men to his flank. Can he find them? No? Koopmeiners is booked for a tactical foul.
90 min: Three minutes added on. Chances at both ends? Rogers loses the ball twice as he carries it forward.
89 min: Locatelli with a lovely move. He’s a lovely player. Eventually, Villa get it away with Rogers making a driving run. Villa still can’t make Di Gregorio make a save.
87 min: Duran, at last, gets involved. But he has very little company as he sets off for goal. The ball is smacked away and it’s soon back with Pau Torres
85 min: Duran has been a passenger so far. Juve have him well marked. The price of being notorious as a sub. Another Juve sub: on goes Fagioli for Thuram, Philogene is on too, for Villa.
Updated
84 min: Some Juve panic as the defenders try to play their way out and Villa force the ball to Rogers. Emery is not impressed by the resultant shot.
83 min: Juve change: Yildiz off, Mbangula on.
81 min: Rogers heads the next behind when Conceicao is lurking. The next corner is cleared. Can Villa counter? Yes, but slowly.
80 min: How do those changes affect the game? Initially, it’s a case of Juventus looking more comfortable. Rogers, a big lad, fouls Conceicao, a small lad. The free-kick fizzes in and a corner results.
78 min: Weah is booked now, and here come the subs. Duran and Barkley for Watkins and Kamara.
Updated
77 min: Martin Gamage gets in touch: “I’m intrigued that this MBM has morphed into a discussion of the genius that is Robert Fripp. I’m a big fan of the early ‘80s Adrian Belew era King Crimson. That trio of albums (Discipline/Beat/Three of a Perfect Pair) is as good a run of three successive albums as anyone’s produced … ever.”
75 min: Tielemans has a dig at goal but Di Gregorio comes across, having read what was a bit of scraped shot.
74 min: The ref booed for delaying the arrival of Villa’s subs. The ball stays in play, both teams attempting attacks but being unable to create much of note.
72 min: Kamara, Tielemans and Kamara attempt a passing move...but there’s a communication breakdown. Villa are the flatter of the two but here come the cavalry.
70 min: Oh no! McGinn has the goal begging. Bailey lays it on a plate but he can’t beat Di Gregorio. Some credit for the keeper but it needed far more gas. He’s shaking his head…in fact, it was Locatelli getting back to clear.
Updated
68 min: Big noise from the Juve fans. Their team beginning to fancy this. Conceicao continues to be a real pest. Villa and Digne have stopped him so far,
Updated
66 min: Danilo, once of Manchester City, replaces Savona in Juventus’ first change.
65 min: Brilliant save from Martinez. Koopmeiners’ corner, Conceicao’s header and Martinez claws it from behind the line. Juve think it’s over the line but the ref’s watch was not triggered. No goal. What a keeper Martinez can be.
Updated
64 min: Bailey in space but Gatti, who has been great, steps across. Real classy, Italian-style. Italians do it better, as that t-shirt used to say.
62 min: Like Koopmeiners, Watkins is in a world of frustration. In this tight game, down that blocked middle, it’s almost impossible to find room.
Updated
60 min: Kári Tulinius: “To go to the other end of the virtuoso scale from Robert Fripp… I can’t find an exact publication date, but with songs about Kennedy’s brain and a druggy Santa, David Peel and the Lower East Side’s 1974 album Santa Claus Rooftop Junkie is spiritually of November. Either way, it’s proto-punk at its rough and tumble finest.”
John Lennon a supporter, if I am not mistaken.
58 min: Thuram at last finds a way to go forward, tries to shoot but misses badly. Koopmeiners, supposed to be leading the Villa line has hardly had a kick.
56 min: Locatelli blocks Kamara, then kicks the ball away. No yellow. The Villa fans enraged. They decide they are going to referee the game from now. They call for a pull in the box. But nothing doing. The real ref isn’t having it.
55 min: Rogers is sent away but also gets caught out by a skidding ball.
54 min: Juventus yet to find anything like the rhythm of the first half, and that wasn’t exactly scintillating, either. Yildiz falls over on the greasy surface.
52 min: Big argument over who is taking this one…Bailey blams it somewhere in the vicinity of Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter. Digne is miffed.
51 min: Instead, Tielemans is fouled after Rogers’ pass. Another free-kick chance. They’ve had chance to get in range.
50 min: Juve are trying their best to wind up Tielemans, Conceicao the main protagonist. He’s on a yellow, let us recall.
49 min: Juve want a penalty. But Pau Torres is ruled to have been unable to stop the ball coming in from Concecaio.
48 min: Paul Griffin gets in touch: This is one of Fripp’s greatest moments. And is arguably one of the most compelling explanations of genius ever delivered: . I love that Visconti starts with an intention to come across as a little modest, self-effacing even, then decides to REDACTED that and wallows in Fripp, Eno, kissing by the wall, the Atlantic horns, all of it. Don’t blame him.
47 min: It’s a short corner. One off the training ground but Villa have to recycle, McGinn sending Digne back away but his cross is collected, at the second attempt.
Back away at Villa Park
46 min: Villa look to make a fast start, forcing a corner through Digne.
Villa take the field to the tune of Ozzy’s Crazy Train. That’s a bit more like it.
Phil Brennan gets in touch: “Court and Spark, On the Beach and Grevious Angel for me. Oh, and Queen ll.”
Have three of them. Sorry, Freddie.
Spotter’s badge to Ben Fisher who called this one in our pages on Sunday. Ben’s our man at Villa Park, too.
Half-time: Aston Villa 0-0 Juventus
A half that got better, a clash of styles where the other is attempting to pick off the other. Ollie Watkins’ shot was the best Villa effort while Yildiz and Concecaio were the pick of a Juve attack that lacks a focal point.
45 min: Cheers as Kalulu is booked for fouling Watkins for a free-kick. It’s in a dangerous position…Digne’s left boot scoops it up and out.
“My name is Kalulu
My first rule of thumb
I don’t say were I’m going
Or where I’m coming from.”
As the lads undoubtedly sing. That moment – the free-kick, not the song – brings the curtain down on the first half.
Updated
44 min: This has been a most even affair. Just what you’d expect for two teams in mid-table of the Champions League ladder. You know, maybe this thing is good after all.
42 min: More of the game swinging one way and another. Concecaio sees a gap, but Martinez reads the shot well at the near post.
40 min: Richard Hirst is in: “Pretzel Logic yes, Bright Lights yes, but Red? Loved early Crimson, but those 73/74 albums……… seeing them around the time of Starless was the only concert I’ve left early.” I feel the same about later, Adrian Belew-standard Crimson. Fripp is a genius but beyond his Bowie stuff, is the definition of difficult artist.
39 min: Pau Torres fouls Weah, he’d left himself too much ground to make up. That’s a yellow.
37 min: Best effort yet. Kamara digs out the shot and Watkins makes room for himself to crack the ball at goal. A fine save from Di Gregorio, and from the corner Cash attempts to smash a second ball in. Juve clear and go away through Weah. He fires wide. It’s opening up yet more.
Updated
35 min: Juventus attempt a passing sweep across Villa. Cambiaso’s shot ends it, and Motta looks appalled by how poor and effort it is. In truth, the Villa defenders left him with no room other than for the spectacular.
33 min: The centre of the pitch is as congested as Spaghetti Junction at 6pm on a Wednesday. No quarter given, either. Just like driving in Brum, actually.
31 min: Tielemans attempts to find Watkins, but out steps Gatti, who looks a commanding type. Boos as Bailey is fouled by Cambiaso, who isn’t booked. Then boos as the free-kick is blocked. This one is tetchy
30 min: Concecaio is yet to get the better of Digne but looks Juve’s most likely to.
28 min: Big noise from the Villa fans, trying to encourage on their team. Theres’ a dip in mood when Matty Cash is penalised for accidental handball. This is not an easy assignment.
26 min: Juve lifting the tempo, Concecaio the out-ball, Locatelli becoming ever more influential.
24 min: McGinn seeks Watkins, forever running down those narrow channels of his. Juve are wise to those, just as they are to a McGinn shot that’s blocked.
22 min: Both teams going at it now. Juve opening up a bit but still yet to get a proper shot on goal. Yildiz and Locatelli link. Concecaio’s cross misses everyone.
21 min: Joe Pearson gets in touch: “This month I’ve been on a 50 year retrospective and listening to albums released in November 1974. Today has been ‘Relayer’ by Yes and ‘Autobahn’ by Kraftwerk. Currently streaming Roxy Music’s ‘Country Life’, seems like as good a choice as any. What are your favorites from November ‘74?”
Big fan of Kraftwerk, seen them live four times, I think. Let’s see: Perfect Angel by Minnie Ripperton, Diamond Dogs. Red by King Crimson (very influential on American rock), Pretzel Logic (Rikki), and, most of all, I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight byLinda Thompson and Richard Thompson. Thommo is the best English guitarist there is, and perhaps has ever been.
20 min: Danger from Yildiz, that other Juve danger man, so good during the Euros. He cuts in and drags back across himself.
Updated
17 min: A Locatelli foul, and Villa have a set piece. Tielemans will take. No, Digne will take, and the Juve wall holds firm. All Villa now. Rogers almost gets to turn in the box but a handball is given.
15 min: Villa are pushing on, pushing up, and Juventus are beginning to look unsettled. Villa have much more zip than their opponents.
14 min: Bailey’s cross is low, but Pau Torres stoops and hits the bar. Nice improv from Villa.
13 min: Watkins goes on a run but has to settle for a corner.
12 min: Yildiz fouled, by Bailey, not long after Tielemans is booked for fouling Conceicao. Bailey is also booked and the Spanish ref is barracked by the home fans.
10 min: But here’s Watkins, the ball pinged long and accurately, and his control is decent but not perfect.
9 min: Slow stuff as Diego Carlos and Martinez piddle around at the back. No Juve pressure. It’s not been a classic so far.
7 min: This is edgy, both teams settling into their shape, looking to hit the other with a wildcat attack.
6 min: Conceicao is knocked over by Rodgers. That wasn’t a fair fight, even if the Portuguese winger did make the most of it.
5 min: First Villa attack, countering at speed. Leon Bailey shoots when others were streaming forward. Watkins had zipped on.
4 min: Villa, of course, will look to press and trigger the counter. They seem happy for Juve to dominate possession. Francisco Conceicao is to the fore, and he’s shown his danger in this competition.
3 min: Juve attempt an old-style approach of passing the ball around and taking the steam out of the home fans. They’re a team used to passing the ball around under Motta.
Away we go in the second city
1 min: Juventus here for the taking? Only four outfield players on the bench tells the story. No no 9 for them, either. Tim Weah will be asked to be versatile.
The home fans sing along with the Champions League anthem, singing “The Champions” at the end. No booing of the anthem here. Not even when it stops them playing Crazy Train instead. Incredible noise greeting Juventus.
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Hell of a noise at the Villa, where the teams are palling up in the tunnel. Lights and music and fireworks. Villa Park – underrated ground. Superb setting for football.
Other football news. Give it Phil Brown till the end of the season.
A pair of stats, via Sky.
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has beaten Juventus twice before in the UEFA Champions League, winning with Sevilla in 2015 and Villarreal in 2022. No manager has ever beaten Juve with three different teams in the competition.
Juventus have only won three of their last 15 away matches against English sides in European competition (D3 L9), while this will be their first such trip since losing 0-4 to Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League in November 2021.
A famous name, a famous father, especially for Juventus. Jonny Liew spoke to Khéphren Thuram
Juventus are unbeaten under Motta, with the best defensive record in Serie A. Things haven’t yet quite clicked at the other end, but early in the project the direction of travel feels encouraging and Thuram has established himself as a key player in midfield: tactically disciplined, defensively solid, but with the licence to get into the final third and create.
For Villa, Jhon Duran is on the bench as Unai Emery makes three changes to the side from Palace. In come Matty Cash, Lucas Digne and Boubacar Kamara while Ross Barkley, Ian Maatsen and Lamare Bogarde are benched.
Juve have been hit by injuries. Vlahovic and Luiz missing while Tim Weah steps in for the injured Weston McKennie, USA for USA.
The teams are in
Aston Villa: Martinez, Cash, Diego Carlos, Torres, Digne, Kamara, Tielemans, Bailey, Rogers, McGinn, Watkins. Subs: Gauci, Olsen, Konsa, Mings, Barkley, Duran, Buendia, Philogene-Bidace, Nedeljkovic, Maatsen, Bogarde.
Juventus: Di Gregorio, Savona, Gatti, Kalulu Kyatengwa, Cambiaso, Locatelli, Thuram, Weah, Francisco Conceicao, Yildiz, Koopmeiners. Subs: Perin, Pinsoglio, Danilo, Fagioli, Rouhi, Mbangula.
Early team news
For Juve, Dusan Vlahović and ex-Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz are out. Villa are missing Amadou Onana, signed as Luiz’s replacement.
Here’s the squads, via Uefa.
Aston Villa: Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne; Barkley, Tielemans; Bailey, Rogers, McGinn; Watkins
Out: Onana (foot), Ramsey (hamstring)
Doubtful: Kamara (hamstring), Konsa (hip)
Misses next match if booked: Durán, Diego Carlos
Juventus: Di Gregorio; Savona, Kalulu, Gatti, Cambiaso; Locatelli, Thuram; Francisco Conceição, Koopmeiners, Kenan Yıldız; Weah
Out: Adžić (unspecified), Bremer (knee), Cabal (knee), Douglas Luiz (muscular), McKennie (muscular), Milik (knee), Nico González (muscular), Vlahović (muscular)
Doubtful: none
Misses next match if booked: none
It’s about this time that both teams need to think about how many points they need to escape this chess ladder to qualify and/or miss the play-offs.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Inter Milan | 5 | 7 | 13 |
| 2 | Barcelona | 5 | 13 | 12 |
| 3 | Liverpool | 4 | 9 | 12 |
| 4 | Atalanta | 5 | 10 | 11 |
| 5 | Bayer Leverkusen | 5 | 6 | 10 |
| 6 | Monaco | 4 | 6 | 10 |
| 7 | Arsenal | 5 | 6 | 10 |
| 8 | Sporting | 5 | 3 | 10 |
| 9 | Brest | 5 | 3 | 10 |
| 10 | Borussia Dortmund | 4 | 7 | 9 |
| 11 | Bayern Munich | 5 | 5 | 9 |
| 12 | Aston Villa | 4 | 5 | 9 |
| 13 | Atletico Madrid | 5 | 2 | 9 |
| 14 | AC Milan | 5 | 2 | 9 |
| 15 | Man City | 5 | 6 | 8 |
| 16 | Juventus | 4 | 2 | 7 |
| 17 | Lille | 4 | 1 | 7 |
| 18 | Celtic | 4 | 0 | 7 |
| 19 | Dinamo Zagreb | 4 | -2 | 7 |
| 20 | Feyenoord | 5 | -3 | 7 |
| 21 | Real Madrid | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| 22 | Benfica | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| 23 | Club Brugge | 4 | -3 | 6 |
| 24 | PSV | 4 | 2 | 5 |
| 25 | PSG | 5 | -3 | 4 |
| 26 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 4 | -3 | 4 |
| 27 | Stuttgart | 5 | -4 | 4 |
| 28 | Girona | 5 | -4 | 4 |
| 29 | Sparta Prague | 5 | -9 | 4 |
| 30 | Red Star Belgrade | 5 | -11 | 3 |
| 31 | Red Bull Salzburg | 5 | -12 | 3 |
| 32 | Sturm Graz | 5 | -5 | 1 |
| 33 | Bologna | 4 | -5 | 1 |
| 34 | RB Leipzig | 5 | -6 | 0 |
| 35 | Slovan Bratislava | 5 | -14 | 0 |
| 36 | Young Boys | 5 | -15 | 0 |
Unai Emery spoke to reporters in his press conference on Tuesday: “They are very strong defensively, not only with the ball but also without it. They are building a team, trying to keep consistency and dominating matches with the ball.
“It will be a very important three points but even if we don’t win, taking one point is good because in the table we are in the top eight positions. We want to be in the next round and tomorrow if we win maybe we can be a contender to get it.”
Thiago Motta, the Juve coach, approves of the new Champions League format: “I like the new format because we face different teams each games, so the preparation is always different. It’s an extra opportunity to grow and improve, to test our level. We face a team that is strong in counterattacks. We must be focused in our defensive work and not leave spaces for them to attack in midfield.”
First place to start, of course, is this fine piece by Rob Smyth.
The pace of the game was ferocious, but most of the decisive moments involved players who had their bodies in the oven and their brains in the fridge. In the 51st minute, after a flurry of tackles in the inside-right channel, Gordon Cowans calmly danced away from Massimo Bonini and curved the ball out to the left-back, Gibson. He looked, as Villa always did, for the abundant head of Peter Withe at the far post, but the ball did not reach him. Cowans arrived late in the box and planted a joyous flying header past Dino Zoff.
Preamble
Aston Villa seek to relive the golden days of 1982, and also those in more recent memories. Villa have rather run aground. Their last win came over a month ago, on 22 October, in beating Bologna. Villa are riding high in the Champions League still, though that defeat to Club Brugge was punishing enough. Drawing with Crystal Palace stopped the rot of four losses, but now come Juventus, sixth in Serie A, though still unbeaten under Thiago Motta. They’re two points behind in a mega-table, as they attempt to revive the Old Lady. So, while memories will be relived, this game means much in the present day.
Kick-off at 8pm. Join me.
