Unai Emery knew a one-goal lead heading to France was never enough.
Following Aston Villa’s 2-1 first-leg victory against Lille, unprompted, Emery predicted the tie could be decided on penalties. Those words echoed among the coaching staff.
Even on Wednesday evening, the night before the return fixture, Emery spoke to the squad, pointing out that the game they had been watching together — Manchester City’s penalty shootout defeat to Real Madrid — might be what transpired here, in France.
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If Emery’s forecasts were to be proven right, it would require a hero and a villain, as is a by-product of all penalty shootouts. His goalkeeper, Emiliano Martinez, ended up being both.
Martinez has long been a pantomime villain in the Premier League, but in France, he is the unadulterated, deplored outlaw. The dislike runs deep and as Martinez has made no secret in stating, it runs both ways.
The feud stems from the World Cup final in December 2022, when Martinez’s Argentina beat France on penalties. After several acts of what Karl Olive, a French congressman, described as ‘insulting’, he led calls for Martinez to be stripped of his golden glove award, a trophy he collected after, having stirred an already defeated nation into indignancy.
The lewd gesture over his private parts when he received the golden glove award has proven a symbol of what French football insists is a lack of respect towards them. Martinez, though, said it was a result of French supporters booing him throughout the game.
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To inflame the wounds, Martinez then returned to a triumphant Argentina changing room and called for a minute’s silence in respect (or in ridicule) to Kylian Mbappe. Back in Argentina, Martinez stood on the open-top victory bus holding a baby doll with Mbappe’s face on it. French outlet TF1 labelled the goalkeeper the ‘most hated Argentine’.
So here we were. Emery’s premonition materialising. It had finished 2-1 to Lille (3-3 on aggregate) and was full time of extra time. All roads had veered towards Martinez, in another shootout, against France again. And while he was only taking on a team this time and not a country, France’s football governing bodies had given Lille a weekend off from their Ligue 1 schedule in a collective effort to facilitate their progression in Europe.
Before kick-off, Martinez ran towards the loudest, most fervent Lille supporters, who were situated behind his goal. Most of the men were bare-chested and stamping up and down, flags being waved, flares set off and banners draped over hoardings. Two of the men stood on a platform banging a drum with an ominous beat.
Martinez, though, made a point of running towards the mouth of the red wall behind the goal, fixed in his stare. The sharpest whistles greeted him. They remained whenever he received the ball.
A few Lille supporters have tried to make a run at Emiliano Martinez but pulled back by stewards. He runs towards the Lille end, his eyes fixed – met with the sharpest whistles you’ll hear. #AVFC pic.twitter.com/2LghLwDAOX
— Jacob Tanswell (@J_Tanswell) April 18, 2024
He held possession for prolonged periods, largely due to Villa’s inability to do anything else. In the first half, Martinez registered 46 touches to Ollie Watkins’ five.
A handful of Lille supporters, so enraged by the presence of Martinez and unwitting as to what was to come later on, attempted to run onto the pitch but were held back by stewards.
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Villa played with a fraught sense throughout. Players strained and toiled, perturbed by Lille’s threat and the other variables that European away trips bring; atmospheres, theatrical officiating and the complexity of knowing how to navigate a knockout game. Martinez was shown his first yellow card in the 39th minute for timewasting by Slovakian referee Ivan Kruzliak, despite the aggregate two-all scoreline.
“I’ve got a reputation for timewasting because the other goalkeeper (Lucas Chevalier) was doing the same. But I got booked for timewasting,” said Martinez.
Emery applauded sarcastically and was then, four minutes later, shown a yellow card himself. As was his counterpart, Paulo Fonseca. Combined, 13 yellow cards were dished out, including a second, curiously, for Martinez.
Martinez had just saved Nabil Bentaleb’s spot kick, Lille’s first of the shootout and was again facing the wall of red behind him. “Best in the world,” shouted a Villa analyst, watching from a high vantage point in line with the centre circle.
By this stage, riot police had emerged and spread the width of the stand behind the goal. Martinez, the performer, turned towards the crowd, having dived low to his left, and put his finger to his lips. Those constant, familiar whistles became hellacious and piercing.
Martinez was not done there, however. After Kruzliak warned the 31-year-old not to provoke an irate crowd further, Martinez went back for more. He appeared to gesture for the whistles and boos to crank up.
When they duly obliged, Kruzliak brandished another yellow card. Fleetingly, Martinez and his team-mates flushed with panic. Players ran from the halfway line to protest, while Martinez put his hands on his head, in disbelief that he was going to be sent off in a penalty shootout.
“There was no ball on the penalty spot, so I was asking the ballboy for a ball,” Martinez said. “I don’t understand the rules.”
Club staff observing the chaos unfold, though, immediately knew what his punishment would be. Interestingly, at the previous UEFA draw — when Villa were paired with Lille — the governing body carried out a quiz for the representatives of the involved clubs.
One of the questions asked what would happen if a goalkeeper were to be shown a second yellow card in a penalty shootout. Understandably, Villa initially answered wrongly. On Thursday night, they knew and are sure Martinez will be suspended for the first leg of the semi-finals against Olympiacos.
The International Football Association Board (IFAB) — football’s lawmakers — state under Law 10 that “warnings and cautions issued to players and team officials during the match are not carried forward into penalties (penalty shootout)”.
It meant Martinez was free to resume his trademark amalgamation of goalkeeping brilliance and opposition rilling. Back-up goalkeeper Robin Olsen had been sent towards the goal, hugging Martinez and appearing to pass on a note before the shootout, which was shoved down the Argentina international’s socks. Between facing spot kicks, Martinez would kneel or bend over with his hands on his knees.
When the final, definitive moment came, Martinez finally paused. He sipped his water, rattled the crossbar above and leant back on his heroics in that World Cup final, cultivating his reputation for being a shootout specialist. He again dived low, keeping out Lille captain Benjamin Andre’s spot kick.
The whistles fell silent. This was Martinez’s fifth successive penalty shootout victory for club and country and the joy of the 2,600 Villa fans, at the opposite end and watched through netting, reverberated around the stadium. Martinez sprinted the length of the pitch to celebrate.
Emiliano Martinez does it again. He runs the full length of the pitch to celebrate with the Villa fans high up in the far corner.
Shithousery of the highest order. Villa coaches are understandably pushing him off the pitch now. #AVFC pic.twitter.com/gxkAm9Pcr4
— Jacob Tanswell (@J_Tanswell) April 18, 2024
Outside of the stadium, where the roads were shut by police and a build-up of traffic was the consequence, cars pulled up by the lights one by one. Two, in quick succession, wound down their windows. “Let’s go, Martinez,” laughed a younger, English-speaking man. The other, meanwhile, offered a couple of expletives, irrespective of English not being their mother tongue.
Martinez was the name on everyone’s lips and minds. The influential figure in Villa reaching the semi-finals and being three games away from a first major trophy in 28 years.
(Top photo: Mustafa Yalcin/Anadolu via Getty Images)