Aston Villa had to settle for a 0-0 draw against Juventus in the Champions League on Wednesday after a last-ditch effort from Morgan Rogers was disallowed for a foul on Juventus keeper Michele Di Gregorio.

Villa thought they had won at the crucial moment, ending a six-game winning streak when Di Gregorio failed to catch a free kick, but Diego Carlos fouled the Juventus keeper as Rogers shot the ball into the net, and the Villa fans whistled after the final whistle.

“It was the referee’s interpretation, just the interpretation,” Villa manager Unai Emery told reporters. “For myself (the call was tough), here in England, I don’t normally know anything about it because it was a very soft contact. And in Europe it could be a mistake.”

The game was anything but a classic, Juventus seemed content to keep the ball and both sides wasted their chances, with Villa’s best effort coming from Lucas Digne, who hammered a free-kick onto the crossbar seconds before half-time .

Emi Martinez began the evening by walking onto the pitch with his children and showing off two trophies for being the best goalkeeper in the world for the last two years.

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He finished the game with an amazing save that justified those accolades.

Midway through the second half, Francisco Conceição’s close-range header from a corner appeared to end up in Villa’s net, but Villa’s World Cup-winning goalkeeper Martinez dived to get his fingertips to the ball. Television footage showed that only a fragment of the ball failed to cross the goal line.

Villa captain John McGinn almost gave the home side the lead when he capitalized on a pass from Leon Bailey in the 70th minute, but the Scotland international’s shot was blocked by Manuel Locatelli.

“We were closer to winning the game,” Emery said. “They are very difficult to beat, but we have developed a plan. There weren’t many clear chances for either team.”

Unai Emery’s Villa, who started their Champions League campaign with three wins and three goals conceded, are ninth in the table after five games.

Their Italian visitors, unbeaten in Serie A this season but with just 14 outfield players available on Wednesday, sit 19th in the 36-team table. The top eight automatically qualify for the final 16, with the next 16 teams attempting to join them in a home-and-away playoff.

A win would have been a major confidence boost for Emery’s side, who have not won since a 2-0 Champions League victory over Bologna on October 22 and have slipped to eighth in the Premier League table with one win in their last five games is.