Before Aston Villa’s Champions League meeting with PSG, goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez is continuing his reputation for winding up opponents.
Aston Villa, who have not reached the semi-finals since their European Cup victory in 1982, head into the tie as underdogs against four-time semi-finalists Paris Saint-Germain.
Emiliano Martinez seems to be looking to give his side the psychological edge before kickoff. The Argentine keeper is well known for the ‘mind games’ he employs, particularly putting off opponents in penalty shootouts.
During the 2022 World Cup final between France and Argentina, Martínez tried every trick in the book to distract Les Bleus. He managed to save Kingsley Coman’s spot-kick and rolled the ball away before Aurélien Tchouaméni’s penalty, which the Frenchman missed.
Now that he is heading back to France for the Champions League, Martínez clearly decided there wasn’t much love left to be lost between him and the local fans.
PSG legend reacts to Emiliano Martínez antics
Martínez arrived in the French capital yesterday wearing a cap seemingly designed to hark back to that World Cup win, which got him short shrift from former France and PSG goalkeeper Bernard Lama.
“He’s a bit annoying with his provocations. I don’t like that,” Lama told ‘La voix des Gardiens’ podcast.
“He’s still a good goalkeeper, nothing more. He’s not a great goalkeeper. He’s a good goalkeeper who has good spells, who had his spell at the 2022 World Cup. He’s not THE great goalkeeper.”
Martínez was named The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper for 2022 and won the Yashin Trophy – the goalkeeping award at the Ballon d’Or awards – in 2023 and 2024.
Martínez clashed with former PSG star Kylian Mbappe
PSG fans who still have a lingering fondness for their legend Kylian Mbappe are even more likely to have a sense of humour failure at Martínez’s antics. The forward, who departed Paris for Real Madrid in 2024, has a particularly tense relationship with Martínez.
Footage showed the keeper calling for a minute’s silence for Mbappe during Argentina’s dressing room celebrations after the final. During an open-top bus parade celebrating the win, Martínez was seen holding a doll with Mbappe’s face on.
The Argentine insisted he has huge respect for Mbappe, but that’s unlikely to soften any hard feelings towards him at the Parc des Princes.
The post ‘Annoying’ – Emiliano Martinez set for frosty PSG reception in Champions League after making World Cup dig appeared first on HITC.
