Emery: Villa 'have work to do' after 3-0 defeat at Barcelona
Unai Emery said Aston Villa "have work to do" after Barcelona beat his side 3-0 at the Spotify Nou Camp in a Champions League tie on Tuesday, a result that left Barcelona with 13 wins from 15 matches this season and ended Villa's 100% start in the competition.
Villa arrived in Spain having beaten Club Brugge, Fenerbahce and Viking in the group and Emery, who celebrated his 55th birthday on Tuesday, had described the trip as a barometer for his side's progress against the La Liga leaders and five-time European champions. Emery's history at the Nou Camp includes the 2017 comeback by Barcelona against his Paris St-Germain team and his personal record at the stadium now stands at 15 defeats in 16 games; in 31 meetings with Barcelona he has won three times. He fielded what was described as his strongest available team but wanted to measure how close Villa are to the level required to win there.
The match turned on a Joao Gomes mistake inside seven minutes when a poor pass led to Lamine Yamal's opener, and although Villa pressed and created opportunities in the first half they failed to convert. Matty Cash, Gomes and Johan Manzambi all forced moments of pressure on Barcelona, and the visitors could argue they matched the hosts early on, but poor finishing left them behind. German Leon Goretzka struck the post in the second half as Villa continued to threaten but the damage had been done by then.
Raphinha's quick second-half double extended Barcelona's lead after Yamal's early strike and effectively decided the game. Barcelona were missing Andreas Christensen, Eric García and Xavi Espart and handed a Champions League debut to 20-year-old midfielder Brian Farinas, who made his second start at right-back. The hosts had not kept a Champions League clean sheet in 18 games, a run stretching back to April 2025.
Asked about the result, Emery said: "One more match. Just one more match." He defended his players after the early error, adding: "We are working for years together and we made mistakes like that but we have always overcome those mistakes. I am not blaming him." He also said: "The test was definitely not in the level we want to achieve but there are a lot of things to learn, a lot of experience for the players and us," and, "It is giving me a lot of information to analyse and compete at this level. "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 [of Barcelona]. "We were sometimes achieving it and close to scoring goals but we must be ruthless in the attacking third, 3-0 is maybe more than we deserved, but we accept the defeat."
Captain John McGinn told TNT Sports: "Barcelona made the right decisions at the right times and scored really good goals." He added: "The manager spoke about being clinical at important moments in the game. When you come here, 50-50s sometimes don't go your way. They also leave players up the pitch so if you lose the ball they can be away. "I think we are competitive against teams at this level, we have shown that whether it is Bayern Munich or PSG. It was a huge learning curve for us and I am sure it will stand us in good stead for the future."
Emery's tenure has seen Villa rise from a side three points above the Premier League relegation zone to Europa League winners and participants in two Champions League campaigns, and the manager acknowledged this defeat in Spain will serve as another marker in that progression; Villa now prepare to visit Manchester United next on Sunday.
