Aston Villa 0-0 Juventus (UEFA Champions League Group Stages)
When you do a job like mine you can’t help setting yourself statistical goals like… Doing the 92, or reaching a milestone of clubs and grounds to watch whether it be 100, 500, 1000, but one of my nerdy statistical bucket lists is to watch ‘all’ the previous Champions League winners live (I’m only a few clubs off from completing the full set of 22) and one of the teams I get to tick off tonight is Juventus, who I’ve never previously had the luxury of watching in the flesh.
Juventus to me bleeds black and white, 90’s nostalgia thanks to the great old days of Channel 4 and mam & dad not having the funds to cough up £18 a month for Sky Sports. Memories of the beautiful Stadio delle Alpi and Baggio, of course, Vialli, Del Piero, di Livio, Ravanelli, Thuram, Zidane, Buffon, Conte, Cannavaro, Chiellini much later, the names of the superstar footballers that have represented the lady are those that will live in the memory through generations, Juventus is a superpower of football and one of Italian soccer’s greatest brands.
Along with their 36 league titles, Juventus have won the UEFA Champions League twice, one slightly before my memory, in 1986 against Liverpool, on a tragic night that led to the death of 39 supporters at the Heysel Stadium, and one I do remember well, on a night in Rome when they beat a very good Ajax outfit on penalties in 1996.
Aston Villa have also won the Champions League, anyone with a claret brummie accent will remind you of Peter Withe’s goal against Bayern Munich in 1982, but I’ve seen plenty of Villa in the past, the last time was against Ajax last season, when they destroyed another former European champion, who were sadly that night, far from a blast of their self past.
It’s an hour’s drive to Birmingham but I’m allowing for traffic and parking as I head down the M42, up the M6 I’m stuck in a queue at spaghetti junction, dark skies lit up by the tall city centre buildings of the second city my backdrop.
Finally, I’ve parked up, it feels a mile from the ground, on Litchfield Road where luckily it’s free from 7pm, the surrounding streets already full and marshalled by folk in yellow hi-vis looking for a quick buck, I’m walking up the Queens Road towards Witton Lane where I take a left past the Holte Pub towards the huge Trinity Road Stand, I’m collecting my ticket from the North Stand tonight before heading around towards a side entrance in the Doug Ellis Stand where there’s a dirty old lift to take me up to the second floor.
The Venue
Villa Park is beautiful, Prince William’s club of course, it just feels royal, the leafy walk past Aston Park on your left, road closed for foot traffic only adding a serene and calming commute, the huge steps up towards the magnificent Holte End, the gold painted lions and the claret iron gates, once inside the arena I’m up to the top gantry, high up in the rafters of the stand, looking down below at a perfect playing surface an hour before kick off with over 42,000 empty seats under four huge and high roofs.
Those seats soon fill as the game nears, I’m joined by a Galatasaray fan as my side-kick who points out to me a Turkish compatriot in Kenan Yildiz doing his warm up, the players head in as there’s a firework and light show controlled by a couple of guys standing next to us, before Villa Park erupts for Hi Ho Silver Lining and the two teams walk out and stand to the roar that follows the Champions League music, a huge tifo is lowered in the Holte End as smoke fills the arena, I’m expecting a classic and another great European night between two heavyweight football clubs.
The Game
What we get, upon kick off, is two teams not willing to commit. Juventus slow, play back to their goalkeeper, Villa aren’t interested in the press, neither are Juve, when Villa get the ball, Emi Martinez stands on it for thirty seconds on the edge of his box, nothing happens, so he passes it sideways to a centre half, it’s controlled, measured, you get the feeling at this early stage, that both sides would probably take a point tonight.
There’s a couple of early bookings for Villa, soft ones too, but chances are few and far between, Juventus look neat on the ball, Cambiasso is lovely at left back, Thuram a fine figure in midfield, out left is Yildiz who glides in possession, but on the right wing is a little tricky Portuguese winger in the tiny shape of Jose Dominguez (if you remember him from Spurs and Birmingham), number 7 on the back, he has more tricks than Ronaldo, quick footed, close control, speedy, sharp, chalk on your boots, almost old fashioned like from the days when wingers entertained, a Portuguese Stanley Matthews, Franciso Conceicao, the son of former Portuguese international full back Sergio Conceicao, is a delight to watch, one ambition only, to beat his man, inside, outside, he has it all, every time he gets the ball he causes Lucas Digne headache.
The Score
Conceicao aside, Juve are well contained, I struggle to think of any moments in the first half from them aside from a Weah effort on the break smashed over, Villa’s best chance a shot by Watkins well saved before a free kick on the stroke of half time is clipped onto the top of the bar by Digne, it’s a compelling watch, because of the quality on show, but not a lot of goal mouth action.
The second half isn’t much better either, but there are big moments and Emi Martinez, the Argentine goalkeeper who was presented with the Golden Glove ahead of the game and applauded by his fans as the world’s best goalkeeper, he’s called into action and proves his worth with a stunning stop from Conceicao who’s left unmarked from a Koopmeiners corner, Martinez diving right to claw out the ball which is 98% over the goal-line, a magnificent stop which justifies his status as the best.
At the other end John McGinn might have thought he would score, shooting low after Leon Bailey’s pull back, but for a combination of goalkeeper and defender blocking his effort, and as the game slowed into three minutes of injury time, with both teams seemingly set to share the spoils, a last throw of the dice presented to Villa, when a free kick was played into the box, Di Gregorio favourite to claim, dropping the ball at Morgan Rogers feet, Rogers prodding home to spark wild scenes of celebration, but the Referee had blown for an infringement, despite it not being initially clear as the Juve goalkeeper received attention, a free kick awarded after a tense video assistant review backed the officials judgement, boos would then surround the stadium upon the final whistle, the scoreboard controller having to reset after hastily inputting 1-0.
The Stars
Aston Villa will thank their goalkeeper Emi Martinez for the save of the game, Martinez is world class no question, the world’s best? He’s certainly in the debate.
Elsewhere they were defensively solid with Pau Torres and Diego Carlos very good, in midfield organised with McGinn and Tielemens ticking, my first look at Boubacar Kamara and the afro haired Frenchman did well in the centre of the park too, in fact they all played well, even the subs that came on, without really penetrating the Juve defence. Leon Bailey perhaps their main threat on the night out right, although he was well marshalled by Cambiasso who shown elegance as an inverted style left back.
Another reason for Juve’s solid defensive structure was the fabulously named Federico Gatti. An old classic Italian defender with an old classic Italian name, what’s not to love? Tall, solid, organising, he just loves to defend and nearly 80 games into his Juve career I’ll back him to be one day up there with other great defenders of Juventus past.
In midfield, Kephran Thuram looked very good as an all-round solid, stable and technical footballer, he’s certainly doing the family name proud. Manuel Locatelli has been one of my long favourites, from watching him as a wonderkid at Milan to rescuing his career at Sassuolo. I love how he’s grafted his way back up to elite levels and even captaining his side tonight, his range of passing a delight and calmness on the ball assuring.
Star of the night however was their splendid right winger Conceicao who certainly has a big future ahead of him, as does Yildiz on the left who often glided in field like he was on roller blades.
The Verdict
Not a night to remember, if you like your goalmouth action, but both Villa and Juve fans would be pleased that it was a point towards target, whilst I was pleased to chalk off another great club side to my collection of previous Champions League winners.
On leaving Villa Park I had to exit via the away stairs, hustle and bustle all in Italian lingo, a super following who largely out sung the home end with their vocal chants of Juve, Juve, they are a proper football team, with proper football fans, both clubs in fairness, a credit to the game, I never do mind a nil-nil, and when Italian teams are in town, they’ll always put on a good defensive show.
The Teams
Aston Villa: Emi Martinez, Matt Cash, Diego Carlos, John McGinn, Youri Tielemans, Ollie Watkins (Jhon Duran 78), Lucas Digne, Pau Torres, Morgan Rogers, Leon Bailey (Jaden Philogene 86), Boubacar Kamara (Ross Barkley 78).
Juventus: Michele Di Gregorio, Federico Gatti, Manuel Locatelli, Francisco Conceicao, Teun Koopmeiners, Kenan Yildiz (Samuel Mbangula 82), Pierre Kalulu, Kephran Thuram (Nicolo Fagioli 86), Timothy Weah, Andrea Cambiasso, Nicolo Savona (Danilo 66).
8:00pm Kick Off. Wednesday 27th November 2024, Villa Park, Birmingham (att 42,589).
Comments