Barcelona beat Aston Villa 3-0 in the fourth round of the Champions League league phase on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, at Camp Nou in Barcelona.
Lamine Yamal scored in the seventh minute, and Raphinha added two goals in the second half. The win ended Villa's perfect record in the competition and gave Barcelona nine points, enough to move above Unai Emery's side into second place in the standings.
A Bounce-Back Night
Barcelona came into the game after a 4-2 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain, the reigning champions, in their previous European match.
They needed a response to stay in the hunt for a top-eight finish, which would earn them a direct place in the round of 16. Villa arrived on a three-game winning run in the competition, and it was their first visit to the Camp Nou in 46 years.
Barcelona began with energy in wet weather and opened up scoring after only seven minutes.
The ball was passed badly by Villa midfielder Emiliano Buendía in his own half of the pitch, and Yamal scored with a well-placed shot into the far side of the net. He became the most prolific scorer under the age of 20 in the history of Champions League competition with his 13th goal of the season, according to the Barcelona's official report.
After the interval, the objective of Barcelona was to increase their lead. Yamal got close to scoring early in the second half, but in the 52nd minute, Raphinha scored the second for the Catalans.
João Cancelo executed a superb move to beat John McGinn and delivered a superb pass inside the box, where Raphinha scored from close range. According to Sports Mole, the goal had taken a slight deflection before entering the net.
The goal brought Raphinha equal to Ronaldinho with 94 goals for Barcelona. Raphinha scored his second goal in the 64th minute. Fermín López assisted Raphinha in the box, and he found the back of the net with an excellent piece of skill.
As can be seen from the stats below, the match was quite one-sided:
- Possession: Barcelona 63%, Villa 37%
- Shots on target: Barcelona 7, Villa 1
- Shots off target: Barcelona 8, Villa 7
- Corners: Villa 8, Barcelona 4
- Cards: Villa 3 yellows, Barcelona 1
In addition, Al Jazeera states that Barcelona registered their first Champions League clean sheet in 19 games. Yamal almost got another goal in the end, but his attempt went wide.
He was awarded man of the match, and his performances have continued to be outstanding.
He was said to have scored 22 goals and assisted 13 other goals, according to Sports Mole, while the other count is 23. He has now scored 18 goals this season with his second goal from the match on Tuesday. According to Sky Sports, Barcelona are scoring four goals per match this season.
This victory will see Barcelona on nine points and in an excellent position for qualification to the round of 16 without playing any other match.
Villa remains in an excellent position following their three victories, but now they have to play some harder matches in order to maintain their position in the top eight.
The first match for Barcelona is an away match against Sabah from Azerbaijan, which takes place on November 25. On December 8, they host Manchester City.
Following that, they have an away match against Sporting CP on January 20 and a home fixture against Como on January 27. Villa needs to bounce back and start winning their matches again in both domestic and European games.
