- Close
Senior Writer- • Joined ESPN in 2011
• Covered two Olympics, a pair of Rugby World Cups and two British & Irish Lions tours
• Previously rugby editor, and became senior writer in 2018
BARCELONA, Spain -- Raphinha and Lamine Yamal proved too hot for Aston Villa on Tuesday as free-scoring Barcelona recorded a 3-0 win at Camp Nou to end the Premier League side's perfect start in the UEFA Champions League this season.
Yamal opened the scoring in the seventh minute, capitalizing on a João Gomes mistake to overtake Kylian Mbappé as the highest-scoring teenager in the competition's history with 14 goals. Raphinha, excelling as a No. 9 once again, then sealed the victory with a second-half brace, taking him to 19 goals for the season in just 13 appearances.
The win moves Barça level in the standings on nine points with Villa, who had won all three of their European matches heading into the meeting with the LaLiga leaders.
In the lashing rain, Barça started quickly with Yamal's goal, but Villa came back, creating good chances for Matty Cash and Gomes in front of the vocal away support. Johan Manzambi also came close for Villa, but Barça remained a threat at the other end and pulled away from the Premier League side in the second half.
There was an element of fortune to Raphinha's 52nd-minute goal, with his strike deflected past the helpless Zion Suzuki. There was no luck to the second goal, though, a poacher's finish after brilliant work from João Cancelo.
Fermín López and Yamal, on two occasions, came close to adding a fourth as Barça continue to rebuild their momentum after back-to-back losses to Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid last month.
Saturday's 6-1 hammering of Alaves helped restore confidence ahead of Villa's visit, and this win sets Hansi Flick's side up nicely for Sunday's top-of-the-table clash against Atlético Madrid in LaLiga.
- As it happened: Barça thump Villa, Man Utd rally to beat Roma
- Did Man United's Champions League comeback save Carrick's job?
- City relegated from Premier League but win the UCL? How it could play out
Raphinha, Yamal outduel Villa
If it's any consolation to Villa, they are not the first team to be undone by Europe's most effective attacking duo. Yamal and Raphinha have netted 32 of Barça's 60 goals this season in just 15 matches.
Yamal went first here. Barça's press forced Gomes into an error and the Brazilian will have been horrified as he saw the ball drop to the youngster through the rain. Cutting inside on his left foot, Yamal shaped a trademark finish around Suzuki to set the home side on its way.
Raphinha stepped up in the second half. His goal scoring since Flick took over in 2024 has been impressive, but he has reached a new dimension this season playing as a striker. His seventh Champions League double extended his lead as the top scorer in Europe's top five leagues this season across all competitions. He now has 19; Mbappé is second with 15.
The Brazilian striker will be particularly pleased with his second goal, a true striker's finish as he got across his marker to turn home Cancelo's cross. He now has 23 Champions League goals for Barça, tied with Robert Lewandowski. Only Lionel Messi (120) and Luis Suárez (25) have more.
Barça could have scored more, too. Suzuki saved well from Fermín, while Yamal, who relished playing against Ian Maatsen, who was carrying a yellow card from the 11th minute, flashed a couple of chances wide. In the end, Barça had to make do with just three goals -- one below their average. -- Marsden
Emery's unhappy record continues as Villa's perfect start ends
This wasn't the birthday Unai Emery planned. Across his 24 years in management, Emery had taken charge of 15 matches at Camp Nou and won just one. Unfortunately for Villa, they gift-wrapped Barça their first goal, and defensive uncertainty contributed to both of Raphinha's strikes. He might not look back on his 55th birthday with much fondness.
For Emery, this clash was an acid test of his Villa rebuild. Heading to Barcelona, Villa were three from three in the Champions League after victories over Club Brugge, Fenerbahce and Viking FK. Excitement is rightly building over Emery's latest Villa iteration complete with free-scoring Nicolas Jackson and the much-admired Manzambi. But the 3,000 Villa fans who traveled to Barcelona in hope left with a reminder of the requirements it takes to beat Europe's finest -- along with some extremely drenched clothing. The conditions were abysmal, and Villa paid for some wastefulness up front, and errors at the back.
But given the summer upheaval, and the progress they're making, lessons will be learned and there are still positives to take. They should have scored a couple in the first half but were just slightly off it. And then came the defensive mistakes, which can be picked apart in analysis and corrected. So it's not doom and gloom for Villa. Far from it. They're still in control of their Champions League destiny, and plenty of teams have come here and ended up unstuck.
Emery, however, won't necessarily see it like that. He's a master of these continental competitions, and privately he'd have hoped to see his Villa side ruffle some Barcelona feathers on a ground where he has had few presents in the past. -- Hamilton
Villa's defense put under pressure by Barcelona's press
Suzuki is already a fan favorite at Villa Park having filled Emiliano Martínez's sizable shoes in goal. But this is a defensive unit still finding its collective feet. We saw Suzuki make an error for Fulham's goal at the weekend, and Barça's first was a result of defensive sloppiness.
After just six minutes, Barça's high press put Villa under pressure as they played out from the back. Gomes received a ball from Suzuki with Pedri breathing down his neck, and his pass found Yamal instead of a teammate. 1-0 Barça. Villa didn't learn from that, and after 26 minutes, it was nearly a repeat of the same error as Suzuki's pass found Gomes again flustered and Anthony Gordon had a shot saved.
Barça hustling Villa's defense contributed to their second as Fermín was given too much time to find Raphinha, whose effort wrong-footed Suzuki after it struck Pau Torres' heel. Very few teams could have done anything about Barça's third, though. John McGinn will lament how he was forced off the ball by Cancelo, but his cross, and Raphinha's run, was world class. Game over. Barça nearly got a fourth in a familiar scenario as Fermín chased down Boubacar Kamara, stole the ball and had his shot well-saved by Suzuki.
At the other end, Villa had their chances when the game was nicely poised at 1-0. Manzambi scuffed a decent opportunity wide, while Jackson had a one-on-one with the onrushing Joan García, which the Barça keeper won. It's the sort of night Villa will learn from. Expect to see their passing out from the back to be far crisper going forward. It's the sort of thing Emery will sort out, but there were some harsh lessons for Villa's defense. -- Hamilton
Barça defense tested by Villa's opportunistic attack
It happened. For the first time since the spring of 2025, Barça kept a clean sheet in the Champions League. After a run of 18 games, dating back to a quarterfinal first-leg win over Borussia Dortmund 19 months ago, Flick's side shut down its opponents.
That's the positive. That and the fact that it came with a slightly cobbled-together back four as well. With Eric García, Jules Koundé, Andreas Christensen and Xavi Espart all injured, young midfielder Brian Fariñas, who made his debut only last weekend, continued at right back. Gerard Martín paired with Pau Cubarsí in the middle and Cancelo started on the left side. There were no available first-team defenders on the bench.
The slight negative, then, is that this still looked like a team that will -- and did -- give up chances. Villa got on top for a spell after Yamal's opener. Goalkeeper García saved from Cash, Cancelo blocked Gomes and Manzambi and Jackson both had opportunities to get Villa back in the game.
García was adept at sweeping, getting to the ball milliseconds before Jackson at one moment in the first half, while Barça also rode their luck late on once they had wrapped up the win. Villa substitute Leon Goretzka hit the post and Tammy Abraham, Ibrahim Mbaye and Ross Barkley all missed the target as Barça finally got a much sought-after clean sheet. -- Marsden