How Emi Martinez mocked Juventus goalkeeper as Douglas Luiz watches Aston Villa match Chelsea record

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Aston Villa were robbed of what would have been another memorable Champions League win at Villa Park after Morgan Rogers was denied a late winner in front of the Holte End.

Diego Carlos was adjudged to have fouled Juventus goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio after jumping up with the Italian as he tried to claim Youri Tielemans' delivery from a free-kick. The Italian dropped the ball under pressure from Carlos, before Rogers then put it into the empty net.

Unai Emery admitted after full-time that a draw was a fair result, but Villa were mightily unlucky not to have claimed a fourth Champions League victory, one which would have put them in an even stronger position to go on to finish in the top eight positions.

READ | John Townley's Aston Villa player ratings vs Juventus as trio impress in 0-0 draw

READ | Aston Villa boss in 'very soft' claim after dramatic ending to Juventus stalemate

Here are the talking points from Villa's stalemate...

Martinez mocks Juventus 'keeper

Villa are the first team since Chelsea in 1999 to keep clean sheets in their first three Champions League home games. Emi Martinez was only made to work once in the first half, saving an effort from Francisco Conceicao, but his second stop to deny the Portuguese was world class goalkeeping.

Teun Koopmeiners' delivery fell at the back post, where Conceicao was on hand to head towards goal from close range. Martinez clawed the ball from off the goal line, with the ball just millimetres away from going in.

In what is an underrated part of Martinez's game, his distribution from the back was also excellent. He misplaced just two of the 27 passes he attempted and was often hounded by Juventus' forwards applying a high press.

After full-time, Martinez appeared to mock and joke with his counterpart as he laughed, holding his side trying to imitate the goalkeeper after he fell to the floor from feeling a very small amount of contact from Carlos when trying to catch Tielemans' cross.

Villa have now kept clean sheets in all four of their home matches against Italian teams after drawing against Juventus and beating Bologna and Inter.

Perhaps a goalless draw was the obvious result at Villa Park on Wednesday night due to Juventus' strong defensive record and lack of goals, coupled with their injury struggles at the top of the pitch. The Bianconeri drew 0-0 to AC Milan last weekend and have the best defensive record in Serie A with only seven goals conceded and nine clean sheets.

Watkins: Goalkeepers are protected

Villa came the closest to breaking the deadlock in the first half as Lucas Digne hit the top of the bar from a free-kick. After Martinez's clutch save to deny Conceicao in the second half, John McGinn's goal-bound effort was blocked by Manuel Locatelli.

On the balance of play a draw was a fair result, but the big decisions in the match went against Villa. They had every right to feel aggrieved leaving the pitch after Rogers' 'winner' was chalked off.

"I think it was soft," Villa striker Ollie Watkins said on TNT Sports. "Maybe in the Premier League, it's a goal. But in Europe, the goalkeepers are protected a lot. It's one of them. I thought we scored. But to be fair, this game had a 0-0 written all over it.

"It's a positive result. The fans want to see lots of goals and we do ourselves. But the most important thing was we didn't lose tonight.

"Juventus are a massive team and they played well. But we kept them out and now we move on to the weekend."

Speaking about the refereeing throughout the match, Watkins said: "Obviously, I have to be careful talking about the referee. But it's different in this competition. But we are used to it now. Sometimes it goes against you and sometimes it goes in your favour."

Luiz watches on at Villa Park

Douglas Luiz hasn't been able to catch a break since leaving Villa. Even after his new club Juventus were drawn out to play at Villa Park, he could only watch from the stands. At least he got to sample a Champions League atmosphere at B6 after playing a key role in helping the club secure a top four finish last term.

He was unable to feature against his former club due to muscle fatigue, but made sure he was at the game by taking a private jet into the UK earlier today. He was sat with family in a box in the Trinity Road Stand.

In Villa's pre-match press conference at Bodymoor Heath, Italian reporters explained that Luiz simply hasn't adapted to what Thiago Motta wants of him yet. They suggested that the Brazilian wants more touches of the ball than his manager allows, and that he has also made some key errors.

Notably, Luiz gave away penalties in successive matches against RB Leipzig and then Cagliari just a few days apart last month. In Tuesday's press conference, Emery was asked about possibly taking the midfielder back to Villa, but he appeared puzzled by the suggestion.

In contract, Villa's president of football operations Monchi spoke openly about the midfielder in an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport. He said: "After his farewell, we invested and in midfield we are well placed with Tielemans, Onana, Kamara, Barkley… But I would always take Douglas back, from any club: he is very strong."

How the land lies

After matchweek five, Villa are sitting outside the top eight on goal scored, with Monaco currently occupying the final round of 16 qualification place. The Ligue 1 club host Villa in January after Emery's side take on RB Leipzig in Germany in two weeks' time.

Despite making an impressive start in the Bundesliga this term, Leipzig has lost all five of their Champions League matches against Atletico Madrid, Juventus, Liverpool, Celtic and Inter. They'll be desperate to defeat Villa to give themselves a chance of staying in the competition and qualifying for a knockout play-off.

Villa boss Emery previously said that 16 or 17 points should be enough to make it into the top eight. That means that if Villa fail to defeat Leipzig, they might have to beat both Monaco and Celtic to avoid a play-off.

Monaco won three and drew one of their first four before losing 3-2 at home to Benfica on Wednesday night. They face Arsenal and Inter away either side of hosting Villa, so they will likely need to beat Emery's side to keep their chances of a top eight finish alive.

Celtic, meanwhile, have two winnable games against Dinamo Zagreb and BSC Young Boys to come before they face Villa away. If they were to win both games, they'd be on 14 points, which would set up an enthralling encounter at Villa Park in late January.

Claret & Blue verdict

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