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

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If the fears around a revamped and remodelled Champions League were that some of these extra group matches would lose their bite, then this was an evening to confirm a few suspicions.

And what a shame that is. There is no end of beauty when you picture the grand Old Lady of European football under the grand old lights of Villa Park, but the reality was different - she shuffled around with little purpose and those beams were the only source of brightness.

The rest was forgettable, a dull shade of grey, 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 the winner, only for it be disallowed for a challenge by Diego Carlos on the Juventus goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio. They had tussled under a high ball at a free-kick, but the shoulder-to-shoulder contact was nothing out of the ordinary.

As with so many of the decisions made by the referee, Jesus Gil Manzano, it felt like an excessive interpretation of the laws. It was also a little jarring, for he had appeared to give the goal, only to change his mind without any nudging from the VAR. Villa’s manager Unai Emery was not alone in his mixture of exasperation and irritation, but at least the game delivered one issue to chew over.

The only other point that stirred excitement occured half an hour prior to that flashpoint, when Francisco Conceicao stood four yards out and headed at a largely empty goal. Somehow Emiliano Martinez reached it and kept the ball from fully crossing his line.

Aston Villa were held to a 0-0 draw by Juventus after Morgan Rogers' late strike was chalked off

The new England international thought he had struck the winner deep into time added on

Juventus goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio was judged to have been fouled just before the goal

At a push, he had two inches to spare before the goal-line technology would have buzzed, so it was a corker of a save. Before the match, the Argentine had paraded the two Yashin trophies he has been awarded for being the world’s best goalkeeper – delivering a stop like that on a freezing night of little activity was a fine way to validate the judges.

In the bigger picture, the draw keeps Villa in decent health in the Champions League, but failed to arrest a run of winless matches that has now stretched to seven. With Chelsea next up on their domestic agenda, there is a growing need for Emery to break the inertia that has taken hold of his side.

Their presence in these European nights will compensate for ground in the Premier League, but they are curiously lacking in confidence compared to what we saw last season.

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

Perhaps it would be necessary to use some perspective, to highlight that is never a bad thing to draw with Juventus, but this did ring as a missed opportunity against a side in transition.

To understand where Juventus find themselves on the development curve, consider their team sheet – there were no recognised strikers in Thiago Motta’s starting XI, no one above the age of 27 and only six men on the bench, two of whom were goalkeepers. Injuries have hit hard and often in a season where they sit sixth in Serie A.

Granted, it is 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 side and Michel Platini.

From the Villa perspective, Emery made three changes to the bunch that drew 2-2 against Crystal Palace on Saturday. Most notable among those coming in was Boubacar Kamara, who was stationed next to Youri Tielemans in midfield. Their struggle to replicate the Kamara-Luiz partnership was shown by how much possession Juventus held in the first half, albeit without any great spark to make it count. Outside of the runs from Francisco Conceicao, they lacked dynamism and threat.

As for Villa, Pau Torres glanced a header onto the roof of the net and in the final moments of the first half Lucas Digne dipped a free-kick onto the bar. Barring one other drive from Watkins that was saved by Di Gregorio, there was almost nothing in between, but nor were there any difficulties at the other end.

Emiliano Martinez's stunning stop was the second of only two moments of quality in the tie

Francisco Conceicao headed at a half-empty net from four yards out but Martinez managed to somehow keep it out

Unai Emery needs to break the inertia that has taken hold of his side at this stage of the season

Martinez appeared to mock his opposite number after the match ended in a 0-0 draw

Though the draw puts Villa in good health in the Champions League they are without a win in seven games

That will have partially satisfied Emery – he has highlighted lately the need to tighten up at the back and to those purposes, the half was a success.

The second started with a fraction of anxiety and, again, it was caused by Conceicao. His sidestep around Digne was excellent his drive clattered off the elbow of Torres. The appeal for a penalty went nowhere, along with the game, until Martinez made his save from Conceicao and Rogers scored the goal that never was.