By Ahmed Abdelsalam
Aston Villa's perfect start to the Champions League campaign came to an end with a 3-0 defeat against Barcelona at the Spotify Nou Camp, but manager Unai Emery insisted his side can take positives from the performance.
Match summary
Lamine Yamal gave Barcelona an early lead after a misplaced pass from Joao Gomes, and Raphinha struck twice in the second half to secure the win for the Spanish champions. Despite the scoreline, Villa created several chances in an engaging first half, with Matty Cash, Gomes and Johan Manzambi testing the home defence.
Emery focuses on learning
Emery, who celebrated his 55th birthday on Tuesday, described the match as a valuable test of his team's progress. "Overall, we are competing fantastically in the Champions League, although playing the match we played we have work to do to get to this level," he said. The Spaniard refused to criticise Gomes for the error that led to the opening goal, adding that the squad has always overcome such mistakes.
The defeat also marked another difficult night for Emery at the Nou Camp, where he has now lost 15 of 16 matches as a manager, including the famous 6-1 collapse with Paris Saint-Germain in 2017.
Captain John McGinn echoed the manager's sentiment, saying Villa had shown they can compete with Europe's elite, citing previous games against Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain. "It was a huge learning curve for us and I am sure it will stand us in good stead for the future," McGinn told TNT Sports.
Villa, who had won their opening three Champions League fixtures, now turn their attention to a Premier League trip to Manchester United on Sunday.
