{"id":1369362,"date":"2024-11-27T22:34:07","date_gmt":"2024-11-27T22:34:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/?p=1369362"},"modified":"2024-11-27T22:38:24","modified_gmt":"2024-11-27T22:38:24","slug":"emiliano-martinez-aston-villa-defence-juventus","status":"publish","type":"features","link":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/emiliano-martinez-aston-villa-defence-juventus\/","title":{"rendered":"Emiliano Martinez proves point-winner as Aston Villa’s defence shut out Juventus in Champions League draw"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aston Villa<\/a>‘s defence was once again in fine form as they beat Juventus to a goalless draw in the Champions League<\/a> on Wednesday night.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Villa Park has not been a nice place to go to in the Champions League this season. In their first two games of the tournament, Aston Villa have beat both Bayern Munich and Bologna without conceding.<\/p>\n

Bayern Munich left Villa Park with a 1-0 defeat, while Bologna were beaten 2-0. And defence has very much been the story of Villa’s Champions League campaign so far.<\/p>\n

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Going into matchweek five of the Champions League, only two teams in the competition had conceded fewer goals than Aston Villa. Club Brugge were the only side to breach the Villa net, in a 1-0 win last time out. <\/p>\n

In that game, at the Jan Breydelstadion, Club Brugge had 13 shots with seven hitting the target, posting an Expected Goals tally of 1.38. And even they needed a penalty to beat Emiliano Martinez. Bayern Munich also had seven shots on target against Villa with an xG of 1.55. But they didn’t score.<\/p>\n

And neither did Juventus. But Juventus provided less threat to the Villa goal than any other side in the Champions League this season. The Italian side had just eight shots in total, the fewest Villa have faced in the Champions League this season. Their two shots on target is also a low.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

They weren’t really testing shots either. Five of Juventus’ eight shots came from outside the box, with none of those hitting the target.<\/p>\n

The Bianconeri<\/em> had just 0.44 xG, the lowest Aston Villa have faced in the Champions League this season, and 0.37 Expected Goals on Target — only Bologna had a lower xGOT (0.32) against Villa. And when Juventus did have their best opportunity to score, Martinez was on hand to keep them out.<\/p>\n

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    The opportunity came in the second half, with a good header at the far post from Francisco Conceicao. It looked to be going into the back of the net, but Martinez somehow got a hand on the ball to claw it off the line. The shot was just a couple of inches from being ruled a goal.<\/p>\n

    \n

    Still thinking about this Emi Martinez save against Juventus ? pic.twitter.com\/OGNjUFhSJi<\/a><\/p>\n

    — Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) November 27, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n