'Juventus denied Aston Villa what they wanted ' in 0-0 draw

epa11744420 Juventus head coach Thiago Motta reacts during the UEFA Champions League match between Aston Villa and Juventus in Birmingham, Great Britain, 27 November 2024. EPA-EFE/ADAM VAUGHAN

Thiago Motta maintains Juventus decided not to take too many risks to avoid ‘giving Aston Villa the spaces they were looking for’ and accepts a precious Champions League point.

The Bianconeri knew they had few real options to fight at Villa Park, as they had only 14 outfield players in the squad and no centre-forwards, so Timothy Weah was a makeshift False 9.

They nonetheless had the chance to win it when Dibu Martinez somehow managed to claw the Francisco Conceicao header off the line from point-blank range with one hand.

“A point is valuable, the team is continuing to play in a solid and balanced fashion,” Thiago Motta told Amazon Prime Video Italia.

“Aston Villa are dangerous on rapid counter-attacks and seek their striker with a long ball, but we didn’t allow them to do that often.

“Clearly, we also didn’t create many chances of our own, but that was to not give Aston Villa the spaces they were looking for.

“It was another good performance, a valuable point and we continue to seek qualification.”

Thiago Motta content with Juventus approach

Villa also had opportunities, as the Lucas Digne free kick bounced off the top of the crossbar, then with the last kick of the game Morgan Rogers turned the loose ball into an empty net, but it was disallowed for the Diego Carlos elbow in Michele Di Gregorio’s ribs.

“We always want to win, we have three games to go in order to secure qualification. It’s an important moment where we play every game to the full, as we did today,” continued Thiago Motta.

“We have big games coming up between Serie A, the Coppa Italia and Champions League, always stepping onto the pitch with our idea of football and trying to win.”

The injury crisis deteriorated further this evening, because Nicolò Savona went off in the second half, while Teun Koopmeiners is struggling for form.

“Koopmeiners is playing in a position that is not easy, it’s complicated for him to be between the lines. When he gets deeper, he can see more of the pitch and feels more at ease.

“He has to give his contribution in the more advanced area of the field too, he is capable of it and in many games went close to scoring a goal,” concluded Motta.

“Koop is a special player who can cover many different roles. I am very happy to have him here, which is why he is difficult to substitute.”

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