Overview
- Aston Villa’s Europa League round-of-16 visit to Lille began with loud jeers directed at the Argentina international.
- Supporters in the stands displayed a flag in France’s colors that read “Martínez not welcome.”
- Martínez showed no visible reaction to the hostility and continued his warm-up and first-half duties.
- La Nación reported that he spoke at length with Spanish referee José Sánchez before kickoff.
- The tie was 0-0 at halftime, extending a pattern of hostile receptions in France seen during prior trips to face PSG and Marseille.