Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez expects that the Paris Saint-Germain crowd will “insult me” but feels that the reception towards him will help his team-mates.
Martinez has not got the respect of many in France. His tactics against the country’s attackers in the 2022 World Cup final penalty shootout, seen by some as unsporting, helped Argentina to lift the trophy.
Martinez has since featured against French sides, playing against Lille in the Europa Conference League in 2024, where he was booked in the penalty shootout for time wasting, while the home fans let him know their feelings on him.
As such, with his Villa side returning to France for a Champions League quarter-final against PSG on April 8, the Argentine knows what’s coming, but is hopeful that if the majority of the stadium is hurling abuse at him, his team-mates will be off the hook.
“PSG? It’s going to be heated. I’ve already received messages and everything. We’re tough at home, but we struggle a bit more away from home. It’s a knockout — anything can happen,” Martinez said.
“Having the game in France? The good thing is that my team will have less pressure because people will insult me. I have it completely under control. Against Lille, they blew my mind for 120 minutes — it’s normal.”
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Martinez seems to have already gotten under the skin of one high-profile PSG fan. Their former goalkeeper, Bernard Lama, took aim at Martinez for his antics towards attackers.
“He’s a bit annoying with his provocations. I don’t like that. But otherwise, he’s still a good goalkeeper, nothing more. He’s not a great goalkeeper,” Lama said.
“He’s a good goalkeeper who has good spells, who had his spell at the 2022 World Cup. He’s not the great goalkeeper.”
Fortunately for Martinez, he’s clearly not one to let things get under his skin, or he’d not dish it out quite as regularly as he does.
In any case, it seems he is in line for a hounding at PSG, but he and Villa will hope he can have the last laugh.
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