Raphinha scored twice in the second half to lead Barcelona to a 3-0 Champions League victory over Aston Villa at the Camp Nou, ending Unai Emery’s side’s three-game winning run in the competition. Lamine Yamal had opened the scoring early on, and the hosts controlled the match comfortably from there. The win also lifts Barcelona above Villa into second place in the league standings.
Emery returned to his homeland on his 55th birthday. His team arrived in strong form, having lost just one of their previous nine matches, but they were undone in the driving Catalan rain.
The home side have been in free-scoring form 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. He also has 11 assists.
Hansi Flick made several changes to his lineup. Joao Gomes and Emi Buendia returned, while Leon Goretzka and Alysson dropped to the bench. England forward Anthony Gordon was recalled to the Villa side.
Raphinha Seals the Result
Villa had chances to get back into the contest before halftime. Jackson broke down the right and found Manzambi, but the sweeping shot went wide. Jackson then timed his run perfectly, only for Garcia to poke the ball clear outside the penalty area. Gordon also tested the Barcelona goalkeeper, but his shot was saved.
Barcelona made their chances count after the break. In the 52nd minute, Raphinha fired a shot from just inside the area, and a big deflection off Suzuki sent it trickling into the net. Twelve minutes later, Cancelo drove down the left and whipped a cross with the outside of his boot into the box. It bent around the defence and into Raphinha’s path, and he tapped it home with ease to make it 3-0. Villa’s best reply came in the 69th minute, when Goretzka glanced a header off the post from a corner, with Jackson close by but unwilling to gamble on a tap-in.
The result was the first game at the Camp Nou for Villa in 46 years, and it ended as a miserable return for the visitors.
Merson: Villa Will Rue First-Half Chances
Pundit Paul Merson said there was little between the teams in the first half, though Villa shot themselves in the foot early on. “After that, they had good chances to score and should have scored at least one of them,” he said.
He was less impressed after the interval. “Come out second half and Barcelona were different class, by far the better team. Villa really never looked like getting back into it second half,” Merson added. “So a solid performance, but they’ll be rueing their chances in the first half.”
Emery Reflects on the Defeat
Emery admitted the result was disappointing. “The result is not good. A lot of things were positive but it was not enough to get the result,” he said.
He pointed to the team’s chances in the first half as a missed opportunity. “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 also stressed the importance of the experience for his young squad. “We need experiences for the players. Today was very important. To use it to get better,” he said. “Good experience, bad result. At this level, you must be ruthless and avoid mistakes.”
The Numbers Behind Villa’s Defeat
The loss was Aston Villa’s joint-heaviest defeat 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.
Villa have also committed more errors leading to goals in all competitions this season than any other Premier League side, with seven, level with Sunderland. On a more positive note, John McGinn made his 38th appearance for Aston Villa in major European competition, the most by any player in club history.