Motta lauds ´compact´ Juventus in Aston Villa stalemate

Thiago Motta left Villa Park satisfied after earning a point in a goalless draw with Aston Villa on Wednesday.

An injury-hit Juventus, with only 14 outfield players available, held on for much of the contest, but were aided by the intervention of VAR late on.

Morgan Rogers thought he had handed Unai Emery’s side another victory in the competition in second-half stoppage time.

However, his smart finish was disallowed when the video assistant referee deemed Diego Carlos to have fouled goalkeeper Michele di Gregorio in the air.

Juventus were perhaps fortunate to leave the West Midlands with a point, having mustered an expected goals (xG) total of just 0.44 compared to Villa’s 1.23.

Despite the Serie A side keeping a clean sheet for the first time in the Champions League since December 2021, Motta conceded his side did not create enough chances.

“A point secured, the team continues to play compact and with balance,” Motta told Amazon Prime Video.

“Aston Villa started very fast, and they looked for their striker, but we conceded little. It is clear that we have also created little, so as not to give Aston Villa what they were looking for.

FT | | It ends goalless in Birmingham.#AVLJuve #UCL pic.twitter.com/yL4wZwDIRS

— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) November 27, 2024

The result left Juventus 19th in the new 36-team standings after drawing back-to-back games in the competition for the first time since November 2017.

They find themselves on eight points from their opening five games, with the possibility of competing in the play-offs to seal their qualification to the last 16.

“We have great games to play between the league, Coppa Italia and Champions League,” Motta said.

“Another good performance, a point, and we will continue to look for qualification. We will go out on the pitch always with our ideas and trying to win.”

The Bianconeri will be looking to move up the Serie A table this Sunday when they travel to the Stadio Ettore Giardiniero to face Lecce.