After the final whistle, celebrating away fans witnessed a different kind of passion, despite John McGinn scoring once more in Aston Villa’s decisive victory.
Aston Villa’s 3-2 victory over RB Leipizig was full of drama, but the biggest surprise for the fans was seeing a linesman crying at the end.
The cameras captured an emotional Following the game, in which Scotland’s John McGinn scored his third Champions League goal of the year, Alessandro Giallatini sobbed as he embraced Leipzig manager Marco Rose on the field. After Lois Openda cancelled out Villa’s lead in the first half-hour after McGinn’s third-minute goal, Villa had a wild second half in which Jhon Duran gave them the lead again before Christoph Baumgartner pulled them back. Before the strange moments at the end, assistant Giallatini left the field in tears, but Ross Barkley won the game for the Midlands team in the closing minutes.
Since the match was the 49-year-old’s final game as an assistant referee, there was a different kind of emotion from Giallatini as Villa’s triumphant supporters rejoiced after full time. Working on the 2020 Champions League final between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich is one of the Italian’s career highlights.
Presenter Gabby Logan remarked, “You may have noticed that he (Giallatini) was looking very upset,” while Roberto Martinez, a Portugal manager and Amazon Prime Video Sport analyst, praised Giallatini’s enthusiasm for the game after watching the exciting match. He’s not a huge Leipzig supporter, unlike what we initially believed. He was moved to tears by what turned out to be his final game. A night filled with emotion for him.
“The Champions League is very difficult and we have to expect that every team playing at home are feeling strong,” said Unai Emery, the delighted Villa manager who saw his team rise to third place in the Champions League standings. We dominated the game and played consistently.
“We thought that if we prevailed today, we might have a chance to finish in the top eight in the final two games. We are going to attempt to place in the top eight after achieving this choice. Being in the top 24 makes us pleased.
