Barcelona brilliance ends Villa’s perfect start
Barcelona ended Aston Villa's perfect Champions League start with an enthralling win at the Spotify Nou Camp.
Lamine Yamal and Raphinha's double eventually helped the five-time European champions win after the Premier League side gave them a first-half scare.
Matty Cash, Victor Lindelof and Johan Manzambi had chances, but Villa were left to contemplate what might have been.
They had gifted Barca, who leapfrogged the visitors into second place in the league phase table, a seventh-minute lead when Joao Gomes' panicked ball across the box allowed Lamine Yamal to curl in his 13th goal in 15 games.
Yet Villa refused to sit back and played their role in an open, engrossing encounter that almost delivered a leveller.
Cash and Lindelof had shots deflected behind, while Manzambi scuffed wide before testing goalkeeper Joan Garcia.
Villa tried to exploit a Barca side without a Champions League clean sheet in 18 games, but were left to rue their misses when Raphinha's low shot clipped Pau Torres to wrong-foot keeper Zion Suzuki and make it 2-0 seven minutes after the break.
The former Leeds United forward then added a classy close-range third in the 64th minute after excellent work and a glorious pass from Joao Cancelo on the left, before Suzuki denied Anthony Gordon a fourth.
Leon Goretzka's header glanced the post as Villa pushed for a consolation, but Barca finally earned their first European shutout since April 2025.
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