Emiliano Martinez in suspension limbo for Aston Villa's UECL semi-final as bizarre two-yellow law explained

Emiliano Martinez avoided a red card despite receiving two yellows for Aston Villa against LOSC Lille on Thursday night - saved by an obscure footballing law - but the club understands he will miss the semi-final first leg through suspension.

The World Cup winner was the Villans’ hero at Stade Pierre-Mauroy as he saved two penalties in a penalty shootout after Lille’s 2-1 win brought the aggregate score to 3-3. Tensions were high throughout the second-leg tie - not helped by referee Ivan Kruzliak’s recalcitrant officiating - and Martinez, public enemy number one in France, couldn’t help but wind up the crowd.

Villa’s goalkeeper was on thin ice for most of the game as he was booked in the first half for repetitive time-wasting. He certainly tested his luck during regular time but particularly so during the shoot-out as he shushed the Lille fans after saving Nabil Bentaleb’s penalty.

Martinez’s winding up prompted Kruzliak to take action for a second time as the referee showed the Argentine another yellow. A sending-off, then? Surely? But no, Martinez was relieved by a rule even he didn’t know.

According to IFAB law 10 (determining the outcome of a match), warnings and cautions issued during the match are not carried forward into kicks from the penalty mark (KFPM). Therefore, as per the official rules, “a player who receives a yellow card during both the match and the KFPM is not sent off”.

But Martinez mightn’t get away with his antics - as fair or unfair as they were - that easily, however, as Villa understand three yellows across the two legs of the quarter-final constitutes a ban for the first leg of the next round.

This is where it gets confusing as UEFA laws state otherwise. It’s suggested in Article 52 of the regulations that “all yellow cards expire on completion of the quarter-finals”, but the bizarre circumstances for Martinez could trump that.

To clarify, any players who were one card away from a ban have their cards reset. But as Martinez acquired the two during and up to the end of the quarter-final second leg, as well as a yellow in the first leg, his ban supposedly carries over. That’s what the club believes - as confirmed too by The Telegraph.

Confusing, yes, but Unai Emery is set to have to make do without his first-choice shot-stopper.