Raphinha scored twice in the first 15 minutes of the second half as Barcelona beat Aston Villa 3-0 at the Camp Nou in the Champions League, ending Unai Emery’s side’s three-game winning run in the competition. Lamine Yamal had opened the scoring in the seventh minute.
Emery returned to his homeland on his 55th birthday. His team had been in strong form, losing just one of their previous nine matches, but they were undone by the driving Catalan rain and a Barcelona side that has been prolific this season, averaging four goals a game.
The hosts were on the scoresheet within seven minutes. Joao Gomes played a blind pass across his own penalty area that fell 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.
Raphinha made Villa’s first game at the Camp Nou in 46 years a miserable one. His quick double at the start of the second half ended any hopes the visitors had of getting back into the contest, and Hansi Flick‘s side moved above Villa into second place in the table.
Team news
Joao Gomes and Emi Buendia returned to the Villa starting line-up. Leon Goretzka and Alysson were dropped to the bench, while England forward Anthony Gordon was recalled.
Key moments from the Camp Nou
7: Goal. Suzuki went short from the goal kick, and Gomes played the blind pass that gave Yamal the opener.
19: Jackson broke down the right and found Manzambi, but the shot was mishit and went wide.
20: 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: Suzuki played a dangerous pass to Gomes, and Barcelona pounced. The Villa goalkeeper was able to beat 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 he 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 defence and into Raphinha’s path, and he tapped it home with ease.
69: Post. 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 difference between the sides in the first half, adding that Villa “shot themselves in the foot early doors”. He felt they had good chances to score after that and should have taken at least one of them.
“Come out second half and Barcelona were different class, by far the better team,” Merson said. “Villa really never looked like getting back into it second half.” He concluded: “So a solid performance, but they’ll be rueing their chances in the first half.”
What the manager said
Emery acknowledged the result was a disappointment. “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 progress and its mistakes. “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. We made mistakes but we overcame these mistakes.”
Emery also reflected on the 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.” He added: “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 outright most for the club.