Aston Villa hero Emiliano Martinez shared his delight after helping us secure our place in the Europa Conference League semi-finals.
The Argentine World Cup winner saved two spot-kicks in the penalty shootout against Lille, helping us advance with a 4-3 win after the aggregate scoreline across the two legs of our quarter-final tie ended 3-3.
READ MORE: Villa player ratings vs Lille: Martinez heroics, duo impress as Villa advance
There was plenty of drama at the Stade Pierre Mauroy as the Villa No.1 was booked during the game for time-wasting before receiving another caution during the shootout despite seemingly merely gesturing for a ball to be provided, but that was all irrelevant once he booked our place in the last four.
It’s expected that Martinez will be suspended for the first leg of our semi-final clash with Olympiacos next month as a result of those two cautions, but that certainly didn’t dampen his mood as he celebrated another big win for Villa in what will hopefully turn out to be a memorable campaign.
“It feels good, it feels good,” Martínez told VillaTV. “I love this football club and playing in a semi-final for them is something incredible.
“My career keeps going up and up and you need to celebrate little victories after 42 years without a semi-final in European competitions. It’s remarkable.
“I think the fans should give us a lift on Sunday against Bournemouth, there’s going to be people tired. And so we need the home supporters on Sunday to turn up and give us a boost to go all the way.
“We want to go all the way, we want to go all the way. That’s the message we’ve been saying after the game just now.
“We need to have that mentality to think when we play the next game, we need to kill the game at home.”
Lille were impressive over the two legs and despite producing a disappointedly timid performance in France this week, Villa ultimately managed to get the job done to prevail.
However, whether it’s with our trip to Olympiacos next month in mind or as we try to compete at the top level in Europe next season, Unai Emery and the players will learn a lot from the experience as the players continue to adapt, develop and mature when it comes to playing on this stage.
Martinez though, has been there and done almost everything given his trophy collection at international level, and so his mentality and leadership will be crucial next month and beyond.
It’s great to hear him talk about Villa in the way he does as it further cements his place in club folklore, but more importantly, he’ll hopefully guide us to ending our long wait for silverware as well as breaking into the top four in the Premier League to seal our place in the Champions League next year.
“I’m a believer and a hard-worker, and it was my destiny to win here again,” he told TNT Sports, as per the video below. “This group of players and the manager, they’re special. The owners are really involved as well, they’re always behind us. It feels like we’re gonna do something special. I don’t know if it’s Champions League or Conference League, but we will try to do everything that we can for this football club.”
"I don't know what the ref wants from me!"
Emi Martinez speaks after winning the penalty shootout for Aston Villa in controversial circumstances 🧤#UECL | 🎙️ @J_Dyer_Official pic.twitter.com/t7ecDFZgvO
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) April 18, 2024