Juve claim point after eventful Aston Villa clash | OneFootball

Nil-Nil in Birmingham between Aston Villa and Juventus, but the result does not tell the whole story of what was an exciting match involving an injury-hit Juve, who came to England with just 14 fit outfield players, putting in a fearless performance in an attempt to claim all three points.

First Half: High Intensity and Villa rattle the crossbar

The match started with Aston Villa immediately on the front foot: in the first couple of minutes, Ollie Watkins was the most threatening of Villa’s attacking players and he saw his shot blocked in the 6th minute, and then Pau Torres came close to scoring with a header in the 14th minute that went just wide. Juventus struggled to get out of their own half in the opening stages but began to grow into the game after the first 20 minutes. In the 22nd minute, Kenan Yildiz found some space and unleashed a long-range effort that went wide. In the 39th minute, Timothy Weah also tried a shot from distance but saw his strike sail over the crossbar.

The biggest chance of the first half came in the 45th minute, when Lucas Digne hit the crossbar from a free kick from a dangerous position.

Second Half: In the Balance as both sides search for a winner

The opening stages of the second half saw Francisco Conceicao at the centre of the action, in the 49th minute the Portuguese forward ran down the wing and cut inside before unleashing a shot, but his attempt was dealt with by Emiliano Martinez. In the 60th minute, Juventus went close to opening the scoring through Khephen Thuram, who was able to latch onto Weah's pass, but his shot went wide.

Two minutes later, the Bianconeri's best chance of the match came when Conceicao's header from a cross from the right was repelled by Martinez with an incredible reflex save. Goal-line technology confirmed that the ball had not entirely crossed the line by a matter of millimetres.

Aston Villa responded by increasing their pressure. John McGinn, in the 71st minute, came close to scoring with a powerful shot towards the near post, but Michele Di Gregorio was able to deal with it, with some help from Manuel Locatelli. Shortly afterwards in the 77th minute, Youri Tielemans tried his luck with a strike from the edge of the area but the Juventus goalkeeper was on hand to make a solid save.

In the last ten minutes, the match came to life as both teams seemed unbalanced as they went in search of the winning goal and the game became stretched. Meanwhile Aston Villa tried to make the most of their physical attributes, as well as introducing Ross Barkley in an attempt to increase their attacking threat.

The final thrill of the game came in the 94th minute, when Morgan Rogers put the ball into the back of the net, but the referee disallowed the goal for a foul by Diego Carlos on Di Gregorio.

It ended in a draw, and all in all it was a good point for the Bianconeri.

ASTON VILLA 0-0 JUVENTUS

Villa Park, Wednesday 27 November, 2024 at 21:00 (CEST) UEFA Champions League, league phase – Matchday Five

Aston Villa: Martinez, Cash, Carlos, Torres, Digne, Kamara (78’ Barkley), Tielemans, Bailey (86’ Philogene), McGinn, Rogers, Watkins (78’ Duran). Unused Substitutes: Konsa, Mings, Buendia, Guaci, Nedeljkovic, Maatsen, Olsen, Bogarde. Coach: Unai Emery.

Juventus: Di Gregorio, Savona (66’ Danilo), Kalulu, Gatti, Cambiaso, Thuram (86’ Fagioli), Locatelli, Yildiz (82’ Mbangula), Koopmeiners, Conceicao, Weah. Unused Substitutes: Perin, Pinsoglio, Rouhi. Coach: Thiago Motta.

Referee: Jesus Gil Manzano Assistants: Diego Barbero, Angel Nevado Fourth Official: Juan Martínez Munuera

Bookings: 10’ Tielemans (A), 12’ Bailey (A), 39’ Torres (A), 45’ Kalulu (J), 77’ Weah (J), 90+3’ Koopmeiners (J)

Next Match:

Lecce-Juventus Serie A – Matchday Fourteen Sunday, 1 December, 2024 at 20:45 (CEST) Stadio Via del Mare