Barcelona 3-0 Aston Villa: Raphinha double and Yamal strike end Emery's perfect Champions League start

Raphinha scored twice as Barcelona beat Aston Villa 3-0 at Camp Nou to end Unai Emery 's winning start to the Champions League league phase. Lamine Yamal put the hosts ahead after seven minutes before Raphinha struck in the 52nd and 64th minutes to settle the contest.

Villa arrived with three wins from three but were unable to extend that sequence. The defeat leaves them on nine points after four matches, with Barcelona drawing level on points.

Yamal punishes early Villa mistake Emery brought João Gomes and Emi Buendía into his starting side following Saturday's 1-1 draw with Fulham, with Leon Goretzka and Alysson dropping to the bench. But Villa's evening quickly became more difficult.

Gomes lost possession during an attempt to build from the back, and Yamal punished the mistake to give Barcelona an early lead. Having travelled with the confidence of victories over Club Brugge, Fenerbahce and Viking, Villa were facing a different challenge: recovering from behind against Hansi Flick's side.

They reached half-time only a goal down, leaving the contest open despite the damaging start. Raphinha double takes the game away from Villa Barcelona established a firmer grip seven minutes after the restart when Raphinha's deflected effort made it 2-0.

The Brazilian struck again 12 minutes later, leaving Villa three goals behind with little more than a quarter of the match remaining. Substitute Goretzka subsequently hit the post with a header, but Villa could not find a way back into the contest.

The decisive spell came shortly after half-time. Villa had remained within reach at the interval, but Raphinha's two goals removed that foothold and left Emery's side chasing a substantial deficit.

What Barcelona 3-0 Aston Villa means for the Champions League Villa's first defeat of the league phase brings their perfect start to an end, but the nine points collected from their opening three matches remain a valuable platform. They had beaten Club Brugge 3-2 away, overwhelmed Fenerbahce 6-0 at Villa Park and followed that with a 3-1 home victory over Viking.

Barcelona, meanwhile, returned to winning ways in the competition after losing their previous European fixture at Paris Saint-Germain. Villa'sconfirmed team news from Camp Noudetails Emery's selections, while ourpre-match previewexamines the run that brought them into this fixture.