Aston Villa wait on Uefa after plastic bottle thrown toward officials
Villa are waiting to see if they will face punishment from Uefa after a plastic bottle was thrown at officials following Tuesday’s Champions League exit to Paris Saint-Germain.
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The missile was hurled from the lower tier of the Trinity Road Stand towards the tunnel area, narrowly missing referee Jose Maria Sanchez and his assistants as they left the pitch at the end of the match.
Sanchez had become the subject of ire from home supporters, due to a performance they believed heavily favoured the visiting team.
PSG, who escaped with a 5-4 aggregate win after almost blowing a four-goal lead, were awarded 15 free-kicks over the course of the 90 minutes, with Villa given just three.
There was further consternation at Sanchez’s decision to play just three minutes of stoppage time at the end of a frenetic second half which saw six total substitutions and two goals scored. Home fans were also frustrated at what they perceived as the referee’s failure to crack down on time-wasting by PSG in the closing stages.
Unai Emery kicked a water bottle in anger on his way down the touchline after the final whistle, with the Villa boss later hinting the lack of stoppage time had contributed to his mood.
Players also later expressed their puzzlement. Midfielder Youri Tielemans said: “To be honest, I really don't understand why it was only three minutes.
“Everyone was looking at each other because there had been substitutions, goals, they (PSG) took time as well. It was very interesting but it is what it is.”
Uefa are currently reviewing the referee’s post-match report before deciding on any further actions. Should the bottle-throwing incident have been referenced, disciplinary proceedings will be opened with any punishment, likely to be in the form of a fine, announced in the next week.
Villa, meanwhile, have blamed a technical glitch for the bizarre scenes which saw the wrong music played at the start of the match.
The teams emerged from the tunnel to the sound of the Europa League, rather than Champions League anthem, with the former continuing to play on repeat while the players lined up in front of the Trinity Road Stand.
It is understood the computer responsible for broadcasting the music had gone into “error mode” and locked on to the Europa League anthem by default as it was rebooted. The Champions League anthem was eventually played, albeit after the teams had broken away to begin their final warm-ups ahead of kick-off.
