Aston Villa boss admitted that their defeat to Barcelona in the Champions League was a real eye-opener of his team’s level. 

Aston Villa’s visit to Catalan region in the Champions League matchday four did not end as expected. They were well beaten 3-0 in the Spotify Nou Camp. Lamine Yamal and Raphinha’s brace put an end to Villa’s attempt to snatch a point on the road.

The result apparently shows how the level of a Europa League winner is not exactly at the expected level for competing well in the Champions League. Emery shared his view on this defeat as reported in BBC.

“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.”

How did the game go?

Barcelona was, as expected, dominant in the game and they did not take long to open the scoring within seven minutes following Joao Gomes’ error in the six yard box. The Brazilian gave away the pass to Yamal who had no difficulty to find the back of the net into the far corner. 

Villa had at least two chances to find the equaliser. The first was from the tactical set piece work. Matty Cash lashed out the ball into the far side of the post following the long pass from the short corner kick on the other side of the flank. Then, Johan Manzambi’s attempt to penetrate Barcelona’s backline from the left side was not successful either.

In the second half, the Catalan side was even more dominant and added their lead with Raphinha’s brace. The Lion’s chance to score a lifeline from Leon Goretzka’s header only hit the post. 

Why Villa’s level is still below 

Unai Emery’s attempt to raise Villa’s level did not appear to materialise yet, at least for now. His tactics in trying to draw Barcelona’s high pressing in their own penalty box eventually became a huge blunder. The first goal was the proof. Another similar scenario also happened afterwards, one for each half. Fortunately, Suzuki managed to make five saves. 

Based on the data in whoscored.com, Villa was dispossessed 12 times, lost the possession 26 times and made three blunders. Such displayed how shaky their control is compared to their win over Manchester City. 

Emery’s tactical mistake is probably one of the reasons. Another one is the fact that most of their new signings have just made their Champions League debut this season. The match against the European elite exposes their players’ inexperience in UCL. The likes of Zion Suzuki, Joao Gomes, Johan Manzambi have not featured in the top continental competition before. 

This is the part of the  process Villa have to go through to improve their level, as Emery sees it.

“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. It is giving me a lot of information to analyse and compete at this level. “