Champions League round-up: Raphinha at the double as Barca too strong for Villa 

Meanwhile, Fabian Ruiz scored twice as Paris St Germain delivered another masterclass to thrash Villarreal 6-0 at Estadio de la Ceramica.
Barcelona's Alejandro Balde (left) and Aston Villa's Alysson Edward battle for the ball. Pic: Nick Potts/Press Association.

Barcelona's Alejandro Balde (left) and Aston Villa's Alysson Edward battle for the ball. Pic: Nick Potts/Press Association.

Barcelona ensured Unai Emery had another Nou Camp nightmare as they beat his Aston Villa side 3-0 in the Champions League.

Lamine Yamal’s early opener and a second-half double for Europe’s most prolific scorer Raphinha, who has bagged 19 in 13 games this season, gave Emery a 55th birthday to forget.

The Spaniard will not be keen to return to this city any time soon as he has now lost 15 out of 16 matches at Barca, including the famous ‘Remontada’ nine years ago, when his PSG side lost a last-16 tie 6-1 to squander a 4-0 first-leg lead.

This was supposed to be a Red Letter Day for the club and was watched by super fan Prince William – a reward for their excellent progress in the four years of Emery’s reign.

It might have been more memorable had Villa taken a number of first-half chances to draw level, but defeat ends their 100 per cent start to the league phase.

But with some winnable games still to come, they are still a good bet to finish in the top eight.

Barcelona have not found goals hard to come by this season, so the last thing Villa needed to do was hand out a freebie.

But they laid Barca’s opener on a plate in the seventh minute as playing out from a goal-kick went horribly wrong when Joao Gomes blindly passed straight to Yamal, who whipped a finish into the corner from 12 yards.

It was a nightmare start, but they could have been level within minutes as they caused chaos from two corners.

First, Matty Cash arrived late at the far post and his drilled effort was deflected wide and then the second delivery found its way through to Gomes, who thought he was about to make amends until Joao Cancelo produced a fine block.

Villa found their feet and began to expose Barca’s high line. It should have brought an equaliser in the 19th minute as Nicolas Jackson raced clear down the right and teed up Johan Manzambi, who dragged his shot wide.

Then Jackson was sent clear again and it looked like he would beat Joan Garcia to the ball, but the on-rushing Barca goalkeeper got a foot to it and made a vital tackle.

They did suffer another nervy moment when Zion Suzuki put his side in danger again when playing out from the back, but he made up for it by saving Anthony Gordon’s effort.

Villa again threatened as Manzambi surged into the box, but Garcia was equal to it.

Those missed chances proved important as Barca doubled their lead in the 52nd minute. Fermin Lopez fed Raphinha on the edge of the box and his effort deflected off Pau Torres’ heel and into the corner.

The third came 12 minutes later and it was a lovely goal as Cancelo skipped clear of John McGinn and picked out Raphinha, who made no mistake from six yards.

Leon Goretzka sent a glancing header against a post as Villa tried to get on the scoresheet, but the size of the defeat could have got out of hand.

Another poor Suzuki pass played Boubacar Kamara into trouble, with the Japan international denying Fermin from the resulting shot. Yamal, who became the highest-scoring teenager in Champions League history, then whipped two efforts just wide.

Meanwhile, Fabian Ruiz scored twice as Paris St Germain delivered another masterclass to thrash Villarreal 6-0 at Estadio de la Ceramica.

PSG stunned the home crowd and their Spanish opponents by racing into a 4-0 lead inside 17 minutes, with Joao Neves starting the goal-blitz before Desire Doue, Senny Mayulu and Ruiz quickly put the tie to bed.

World Cup-winner Ruiz struck his second to make it 5-0 soon after the interval and substitute David Boly completed the scoring as PSG extended their 100 per cent Champions League start and moved three points clear at the top of the table.

Bayern Munich continued their unbeaten start to the Champions League season with a two-nil victory at Atletico Madrid. Goals from teenage star Lennart Karl and Konrad Laimer proved the difference for the Germans.

Elsewhere, Sporting Lisbon beat Shakhtar Donetsk 1-0, a day after announcing they was parting ways with coach Rui Borges, while Aleksey Batrakov scored two goals in quick succession to seal a 2-0 win for Galatasaray against Stuttgart.

More in this section

Sport

Newsletter

Sign up to our daily sports bulletin, delivered straight to your inbox at 5pm. Subscribers also receive an exclusive email from our sports desk editors every Friday evening looking forward to the weekend's sporting action.

Cookie Policy Privacy Policy Brand Safety FAQ Help Contact Us Terms and Conditions

© Examiner Echo Group Limited