Aston Villa 0-0 Juventus: Heartbreak for hosts as Morgan Rogers’ late goal is ruled out by VAR as winless run continues

If the fear surrounding a new and revamped Champions League was that some of these extra group matches would lose their steam, then this was a night to confirm a few suspicions.

And what a shame that is. There's no end to beauty when you imagine the grand old lady of European football under the grand old lights of Villa Park, but the reality was different: she shuffled around with purpose and those rays were the only source of brightness.

The rest was forgettable, a dull shade of gray, with the exception of one brilliant moment and another that was highly controversial.

The latter came three minutes into stoppage time when Morgan Rogers thought he had bundled in the winner but it was disallowed due to a challenge from Diego Carlos on Juventus goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio. They had struggled under a high ball on a free kick, but the shoulder-to-shoulder contact was nothing special.

As with so many decisions by the referee, Jesus Gil Manzano, it felt like an excessive interpretation of the laws. It was also a bit shocking as it looked like he had scored the goal but changed his mind without any push from VAR. Villa's manager Unai Emery wasn't alone in his mixture of annoyance and irritation, but the match presented at least one problem to chew over.

The only other point that caused excitement occurred half an hour before that flashpoint, when Francisco Conceicao stood four yards out and headed into a largely empty goal. Somehow, Emiliano Martinez reached the goal and prevented the ball from completely crossing his line.

On a push he had two inches left before the goal-line technology would have buzzed, so it was a bull's-eye. Before the match, the Argentinian had displayed the two Yashin trophies he had been awarded for being the world's best goalkeeper. Making a stop like that on a freezing cold night with little activity was a great way to appreciate the judges.

In the bigger picture, the draw leaves Villa in good health in the Champions League, but failed to snap a winless run that has now reached seven. With Chelsea top of the domestic agenda, there is a growing need for Emery to break the inertia that has gripped his side.

Their presence on these European nights will make up for the loss in the Premier League, but they are strangely lacking in confidence compared to what we saw last season.

In the recent past they have played with more purpose, more aggression and more ambition, but here they seemed afraid of losing and less able to bring Ollie Watkins and Rogers into the game. Some of it is mental; part of it is the embodiment of a midfield that has not yet recovered from the sale of Douglas Luiz to the club they played against.

Perhaps it would be necessary to use some perspective, to emphasize that it is never a bad thing to draw against Juventus, but this sounded like a missed opportunity against a team in transition.

To understand where Juventus are on the development curve, you have to look at their team overview: there were no recognized attackers in Thiago Motta's starting XI, no one over the age of 27 and only six men on the bench, two of whom were goalkeepers. Injuries have hit often and hard in a season that has seen them sit sixth in Serie A.

Granted, it's still Juventus, but not as we know them, and certainly not the vintage of 1983, when they were last at Villa Park with half a dozen members of Italy's World Cup-winning squad and Michel Platini.

From a Villa perspective, Emery made three changes to the squad that drew 2-2 with Crystal Palace on Saturday. The most notable among the substitutes was Boubacar Kamara, who was stationed in midfield next to Youri Tielemans. Their struggle to match the partnership between Kamara and Luiz was evident in the amount of possession Juventus had in the first half, albeit without any major spark to make that count. Apart from Francisco Conceicao's runs, they lacked dynamism and threat.

As for Villa, Pau Torres sent a header into the roof of the net and in the closing moments of the first half, Lucas Digne tapped a free-kick onto the crossbar. Apart from one other drive from Watkins, which was saved by Di Gregorio, there was almost nothing in between, but on the other hand there were no problems.

That will have partly satisfied Emery – he has emphasized the need to tighten up at the back of late and to that end the half was a success.

The second started with a fraction of fear and was again caused by Conceicao. His sidestep around Digne was excellent, his drive clattering off Torres' elbow. The penalty call led to nothing, along with the match, until Martinez made his save from Conceicao and Rogers scored the goal that was never scored.