Raphinha scored twice early in the second half to lead Barcelona to a 3-0 Champions League win 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 in the seventh minute, and the hosts moved above Villa into second place in the table.
Emery returned to his homeland on his 55th birthday. His Villa side had arrived in good form, having lost only 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 were on the scoresheet within seven minutes. Joao Gomes played a blind pass across his own penalty area that fell straight to Yamal, and the Spain forward curled his shot into the far corner. It was his 13th goal of the campaign, and he also has 11 assists.
Emery made several changes. Joao Gomes and Emi Buendia returned to the side, Leon Goretzka and Alysson dropped to the bench, and England forward Anthony Gordon was recalled.
Raphinha made Villa’s first visit to the Camp Nou in 46 years a miserable one. His first goal came in the 52nd minute, when a big deflection sent his shot trickling into the back of the net after he wrong-footed Suzuki. In the 64th minute, Cancelo drove down the left and delivered a cross with the outside of his boot, bending it around the defence and into Raphinha’s path, and he tapped home with ease. That ended any hopes the visitors had of getting back into the contest.
Key moments from the Camp Nou
In the 19th minute, Jackson broke down the right and found Manzambi, but the midfielder mishit his sweeping shot and it went wide. Moments later, in the 20th minute, 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.
Villa had further chances in the first half. In the 26th minute, Suzuki played a dangerous pass to Joao Gomes, and Barcelona pounced, but the Villa goalkeeper was able to beat Gordon’s shot. In the 69th minute, Goretzka met a corner and glanced a header towards goal, but it grazed the post. Jackson was there but did not gamble on tapping it in.
Merson: Villa will be rueing missed first-half chances
Paul Merson said there was not much between the sides in the first half, adding that 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.
“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. Villa, second half, never in the game. It was a bit of a free swing tonight.”
What the manager said
Emery acknowledged the result was not good. “A lot of things were positive but it was not enough to get the result,” he said.
He was clear about his plans for the squad. “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.”
Emery admitted his side had made mistakes but praised their response. “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 pointed to missed opportunities. “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 bigger picture. “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 simply: “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 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 the club’s history.