"European Champions"... Barcelona Regains Balance and Inflicts First Defeat on Aston Villa
Barcelona handed Aston Villa their first defeat with a clean three-goal victory, thanks to goals from Lamine Yamal and Raphinha.
Translated by Qiyas from الراي — Original source
Barcelona, the Spanish champions, regained their winning rhythm in the UEFA Champions League by handing English visitors Aston Villa their first defeat with a 3-0 victory on Tuesday at Barcelona’s Camp Nou stadium in Matchday 4 of the new unified league phase.
The Blaugrana secured their third win in the competition, and their first since their 4-2 loss to French champions Paris Saint-Germain in the previous two seasons, thanks to a brace from Brazilian captain Raphinha (53rd, 65th minutes) and an early opener from star player Lamine Yamal (7th minute).
Barcelona moved up to second place temporarily with nine points, ahead of Aston Villa on goal difference. Villa’s perfect run in the prestigious continental tournament came to an end after three consecutive wins, suffering their first defeat.
Players observed a minute of silence before kick-off in memory of Jesus de Miguel, a player for Spanish second-division club Tenerife, who died after a violent collision with the opposing goalkeeper on Monday. The Champions League anthem was also not played in mourning for the 69 victims of the Orduna train disaster.
Barcelona started the match strongly, opening the scoring after seven minutes following a joint error by Japanese goalkeeper Shuichi Gonda and Joao Gomez. Yamal capitalized on the mistake, firing a shot from inside the box into Gonda’s right side.
Despite Barcelona’s dominance in possession, Aston Villa remained dangerous. Polish winger Matej Kovar missed a close-range chance (9th minute), while Swiss striker Johann Berg Gudmundsson squandered a clear opportunity (19th minute), before Joan Garcia made another save.
Barcelona doubled their lead when Raphinha exploited a precise through ball from Fermín López. The Brazilian beat Spanish defender Pau Torres with two quick touches before slotting the ball into the bottom right corner of Gonda’s net (52nd minute).
Raphinha struck again, scoring his personal second and Barcelona’s third, after capitalizing on a precise cross from Portuguese winger João Cancelo from the left wing. He met the ball inside the six-yard box and directed it into the net (64th minute), benefiting from his ideal positioning and raising his tally to 19 goals in 13 matches this season.
