Video: Draw Martínez, hero of Aston Villa and villain of Lille in the Conference League

Despite the 2-1 defeat against Lille as a visitor, those led by Unai Emery achieved qualification in shots from the penalty spot.

The French, who had lost by the same score at Villa Park, seemed to continue ahead with goals from the Turkish Yusuf Yazici, in the 15th minute, and Benjamin André, in the 67th.

However, Poland's Matty Cash scored in the 87th to force extra time in which Aston Villa could have avoided going to penalties. It was avoided by Lille's goalkeeper, Lucas Chevalier, who saved two very clear options from Leon Bailey and Douglas Luiz.

Dibu, who received insults and boos throughout the match from French fans, due to Argentina's victory in the Qatar 2022 World Cup against the French team in the final, had been cautioned in the 39th minute.

Dibu's revenge was in the tiebreaker. He stopped two charges: the first, against the Algerian Nabil Bentaleb, and the fifth and last, against Benjamin André, to ensure Aston Villa's first presence in a European semi-final since 1982, when they won the European Cup (now the Champions League). .

Already with the classification assured, Dibu, who was cautioned again during the penalties, but did not see the red because the second yellow was not during the 120 minutes, turned towards the stands and made signs to silence them, and then ran out and danced.

Colombian striker Jhon Durán came on in the 80th minute at Aston Villabut he did not execute any of his team's five charges.

Aston Villa awaits an opponent in the Conference League semi-final. He will come out of the duel between Fenerbahce of Türkiye and Olympiacos of Greece.
​
SPORTS