Raphinha scored twice early in the second half as Barcelona beat Aston Villa 3-0 at the Camp Nou, ending Villa’s three-game winning run in the Champions League. Lamine Yamal had opened the scoring in the seventh minute, and the result moved Hansi Flick’s side above Villa into second place in the league table.
Villa boss Unai Emery returned to his homeland on his 55th birthday. His team had arrived in strong form, losing just one of their previous nine matches, but they came undone in the driving Catalan rain.
The home side have been prolific this season, averaging four goals a game, and they found the net within seven minutes. Joao Gomes played a blind pass across his own penalty area that fell straight to Yamal, who curled his shot into the far corner. It was the Spain forward’s 13th goal of the campaign, and he also has 11 assists.
Emery made several changes from his side’s previous outings. Gomes and Emi Buendia returned to the starting lineup, while Leon Goretzka and Alysson dropped to the bench. England forward Anthony Gordon was recalled.
Raphinha made Villa’s first visit to the Camp Nou in 46 years a miserable one. He struck twice in quick succession early in the second half, ending any hopes the visitors had of getting back into the contest.
Key moments from the Camp Nou
7: Goal. Suzuki went short from the goal kick, and Gomes’s blind pass fell to Yamal, who finished with ease.
19: Chance. Jackson broke down the right and found Manzambi, but he mishit his sweeping shot, and it went wide.
20: Huge chance. Jackson timed his run perfectly and was played through by Manzambi, but Garcia poked the ball clear after meeting the striker outside the penalty area.
26: Chance. Suzuki played a dangerous pass to Gomes, and Barcelona pounced, but the Villa goalkeeper saved Gordon’s shot.
52: Goal. Raphinha fired a shot from just inside the area, and a big deflection sent it trickling into the net after it wrong-footed Suzuki.
64: Goal. Cancelo drove down the left and whipped the cross in with the outside of his boot. It bent around the defense and into Raphinha’s path, and he tapped it home.
69: Post. Goretzka met a corner and glanced a header toward goal, but it grazed the post. Jackson was there but did not gamble on tapping it in.
Merson: Villa will rue missed first-half chances
Paul Merson, speaking as a pundit, said there was not much difference between the sides in the first half. “They shot themselves in the foot early doors,” he said. “After that, they had good chances to score and should have scored at least one of them.”
Merson added that Barcelona were a different class after the break. “Villa really never looked like getting back into it second half,” he said. “So a solid performance, but they’ll be rueing their chances in the first half. Villa, second half, never in the game.”
What the manager said
Emery was frank about the result. “The result is not good. A lot of things were positive, but it was not enough to get the result.”
He pointed to the squad’s makeup and its development. “How we are building the team is clear in 90 minutes. We have young players, talented players and past players, but we must try and get our structure.”
On the mistakes, Emery said his side recovered from them. “We made mistakes, but we overcame these mistakes. Today, more or less, after the mistake we made, we were creating chances and facing them.”
He also admitted his side’s finishing let them down. “With the chances we had in the first half, maybe it would be different, but we were not clinical. We had chances to score and did not score.”
Emery stressed the positives from the group stage so far. “We have nine points because we did good work. We should be realistic but, at the same time, feel good. We need experiences for the players. Today was very important, to use it to get better.”
He summed up the night in one line: “Good experience, bad result. At this level, you must be ruthless and avoid mistakes.”
The numbers from Villa’s loss in Barcelona
The defeat was Aston Villa’s joint-heaviest loss in major European competition. They had also lost by three goals to Royal Antwerp in September 1975 (1-4) and to Internazionale in November 1990 (0-3), both in the UEFA Cup.
No Premier League side has committed more errors leading to goals in all competitions this season than Aston Villa, who have seven, level with Sunderland.
John McGinn made his 38th appearance for Aston Villa in major European competition, the most by any player in club history.