The second leg of the UEFA Europa Conference League 1/4 finals, Aston Villa played Lille. In the first leg, Villa beat Lille 2-1 at home, and in the second leg away, the score was 3-3 on aggregate, and the match was scoreless in extra time. In the final penalty shoot-out, Big Martin made two saves to save the team by himself, once again becoming a nightmare for French fans.
In last weekend's Premier League game, Martin was like a god, repeatedly saving his old club's must-have goals, and Villa finally managed to snipe Arsenal to give the opponent a 2-0. A few days later, Big Martin was back in the spotlight at the European Championships.
Due to Argentina's feud with France at the World Cup, French fans did not welcome Martin, and whenever he took the ball, the entire Lille stadium was greeted with huge boos. However, these off-field factors did not affect the Argentine's performance, in the penalty link that he is best at, the "big heart" Villamen god did not show mercy, saving Bentaleb's penalty in the first round, and then he made a closed mouth gesture to the fan stands, showing his domineering, and in the fifth round, the big Martin saved Bonjaman Andre's penalty again. 4-3, Villa eliminated Lille on penalties to advance to the semifinals.
Big Martin, who was booed for the whole game, became the hero of the team, and it was for this moment that he endured for 120 minutes, and Big Martin hit back at the fans who booed him again with a twist dance. As if to say: The more boos I get, the more excited I become! The man who made the French cry twice, it is certain that the bond between Martin and the French fans is getting deeper and deeper.
According to statistics, this is the fifth consecutive penalty shoot-out win for Martinez, which previously included the 2022 World Cup final, quarter-finals, 2021 Copa America semi-finals and 2020 Community Shield final. It's no wonder that Villa's official tweeted a picture of the hero Big Martin after the game, and shouted: "The ancient Greek god in charge of penalty kicks!"