Aston Villa and Juventus could not be separated in an entertaining 0-0 draw at a fervent Villa Park, with Unai Emery’s men unable to break a seven-match winless streak which started after their last UEFA Champions League (UCL) home win over Bologna.
While Villa’s famous victory here against Bayern Munich earlier in the league phase required a heroic defensive effort, the early stages suggested this one could well be there for the taking against a depleted Juventus side.
Every pass was lauded by the home support, and they were nearly handsomely rewarded as Pau Torres glanced just over from a Leon Bailey corner.
Juventus were a nuisance on the attack though, particularly via the tricky runs of Francisco Conceicao and Kenan Yildiz, with the latter pulling his shot wide after darting in towards goal.
Things didn’t really get going until after the half-hour mark when Villa registered a first shot on goal through Ollie Watkins, who received Boubacar Kamara’s pass and tested Michele Di Gregorio at his near post.
Play opened up, and there were half chances for Timothy Weah and Conceicao, but the best chance of the half came in stoppage time. Pierre Kalulu scythed down Watkins on the edge of the area, allowing Lucas Digne to drop a delicate free-kick agonisingly onto the top of Di Gregorio’s crossbar.
A lack of quality in the final third epitomised the opening stages of the second half, and it was instead an outstanding show of goalkeeping from Emiliano Martinez which kept the scoreboard untroubled.
A cross bounced all the way to the back post to Conceicao, whose point-blank range header was clawed off the line by the lightning reflexes of the Yashin Trophy holder.
Using that as a springboard, Villa soon went just as close to opening the scoring themselves, with John McGinn’s low shot cleared off the line by Manuel Locatelli.
Those clear chances were followed by a cagey final 20 minutes, but there was to be a final dramatic twist.
Youri Tielemans swung in a free-kick in the last moments of stoppage time which was misjudged by Di Gregorio and duly tapped in by Morgan Rogers, but VAR judged Diego Carlos to have fouled the goalkeeper in the melee.
It was nevertheless a positive result for both sides, particularly Villa who kept a fourth clean sheet in five UCL league phase matches.
Security at the back may also be the key to success for Juventus this season, with 11 of their 18 matches under Thiago Motta seeing their opponents draw a blank.
