Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez is set to miss the first leg of our Europa Conference League semi-final tie with Olympiacos due to suspension.
The 31-year-old was booked in regulation time during our encounter with Lille on Thursday, before picking up another caution during the penalty shootout.
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While the Argentine World Cup winner emerged as our hero on the night having saved two spot-kicks to help book our place in the last four of the competition, it seems as though we’ll be without him for the first leg at home on May 2 against the Greek giants.
As per Sky Sports News, Martinez will be suspended after picking up his second and third bookings of the competition on an eventful evening at the Stade Pierre Mauroy.
However, speaking to the media at his pre-Bournemouth press conference on Friday, Villa boss Unai Emery noted that the club is in discussions with UEFA over the situation, and although he thinks that Martinez will likely be absent, he sounded hopeful that there could still be a change in the decision.
“I didn’t know this rule,” he told the media, as per VillaTV. “But quickly they told me about this rule and now, of course, it’s very important for us and we are speaking with UEFA about this yellow card.
“It’s not exactly 100 per cent he’s not going to be for the next round, available to play.
“In the beginning I think it’s not, but we are in conversations with UEFA about it.
“And, of course, it was a little bit strange because it’s not usual.”
Given Martinez wasn’t sent off and was allowed to complete the game as his second yellow card during the shootout was viewed in isolation, as per the rules, it seems almost farcical that UEFA can combine them together retrospectively to rule him out of our next game.
There must surely be some consistency on the matter and the second caution is effectively only in relation to the penalty shootout, and so Martinez arguably should be available for selection next month.
That said, if the decision from UEFA is that he must serve a one-match ban, experienced back-up option Robin Olsen will have to step up and deliver at Villa Park to fill that void as best as he can.
As he showcased again this week, there is no replacing or replicating the impact that Martinez can make, and so Villa will hopefully produce a big performance in the first leg to put ourselves in a commanding position for the return fixture in Greece.
