There are normal ways to build up to a marquee UEFA Champions League match and there's Aston Villa, for whom the top searches under Google's news tab were all about being taken seriously. This was hardly an exercise in projecting confidence ahead of a trip to Barcelona; the club picked a fight with a broadcaster instead because, for some reason, they deemed he had the power "to stop our ascension in English and European football." Villa's year-over-year improvements are hard to deny, to the point that being somewhat competitive at the Camp Nou on Tuesday was not out of the question and they managed that much. There was just one problem, though.
Punching above your weight is easier said than done against this version of Barcelona. Villa were no slouch but over the course of a 3-0 win on Matchday 4 of the Champions League, Barcelona were simply in cruise control. It is not that Villa did not pose a challenge – they sparked at times in the first half, Johan Manzambi responsible for the visitors' best chance of the game around the half-hour mark.
There was simply nothing they could do at the Camp Nou, their ascension irrelevant even if it is true, because Barcelona are as close to the summit as it gets. Barcelona barely put a foot wrong as they strung together a trademark performance, well-positioned to do the easy things when the time called for them. That was true as soon as the seventh minute when Joao Gomes, under very little pressure, played a perfect pass to Lamine Yamal with plenty of space in front of him.
Even as a couple of Villa defenders tried to close the space near goal, Yamal found his crevice and finished the chance off. It was perhaps the easiest way for him to score his 14th Champions League goal, surpassing Kylian Mbappe as the teenager with the most goals in the competition. Lamine stands alone 😤Yamal scores his 14th #UCL goal to become the competition’s all-time leading teenage goalscorer 👏Watch #UCL on @paramountplus 📺 pic.twitter.com/Va8Ks3SEHv The hosts overwhelmed Villa's defense with ease, Yamal's goal merely the first sign of trouble for the visitors.
Raphinha bagged a 12-minute brace in the second half, the entire collection of goals a remarkable example of defensive errors. There's a comedy to the Brazil international's first goal, something casual about his strike despite three Villa defenders in his vicinity, watching the ball as it flew into the back of the net. On his second, Joao Cancelo was essentially given permission to dance around Villa's defense to find a Raphinha that was virtually unmarked and converted again from close range.
Raphinha with a 12-minute brace 💥He has scored 19 goals for Barcelona this season in all competitions 💥 pic.twitter.com/R39J7g9y6M The mistakes from Villa were glaring, almost obfuscating Barcelona's performance entirely. It was not simply a walk in the park, though – Hansi Flick's side got to roll out Plan A and showcase its strengths fully, the lopsided result reflecting the more subtle elements of their dominance. They were able to possess exactly as they wanted to, taking 16 shots and generating 1.99 expected goals along the way.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
