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Key events
40 min: “Aside from giving it away on the edge of the box, Villa have done great,” says Gerrard on commentary. Which is a fair point. (I’m paraphrasing him slightly.) They’ve looked good, they’ve tried to play and created chances. But the reckless playing-it-out-from-the-back has to stop.
38 min: Lamine Yamal is good at football. Granted, everyone out there on the pitch is, but he really is a class apart. The problem for Villa is he can create chances for himself and others seemingly effortlessly, and no matter how much pressure Villa apply at the other end, Barcelona have a world-class outlet to take advantage of at their leisure. Right on cue, Lamine Yamal produces a ridiculous nutmeg pass, angled from the right wing, to create yet another decent chance.
36 min: Jackson finds yet more space down the Villa right. He’s one-on-one with Fariñas. Manzambi is screaming for it at the far post … Jackson’s eventual shot is deflected out for a corner. The set-piece drops dangerously in the six-yard box but there is no Villa foot or head there to meet it.
34 min: The vast majority of Barcelona’s attack has gone down the right, mostly through Lamine Yamal. But now it’s Raphinha, who pounces on a loose ball near halfway, and streaks into the Villa area. He nearly fashions an opportunity to shoot but Villa manage to deal with it. Just.
31 min: Manzambi goes close for Villa! Barcelona are being generous at the back, in terms of allowing these Villa forwards space to run at them. Manzambi cuts in and out, creating a chance for himself, and hits a shot straight at García! Good from Villa, good from the Switzerland international.
30 min: López battles hard to win the ball back high for Barcelona, and is then clattered by Buendía. The referee books the Argentinian at the earliest opportunity.
On the touchline, Emery looks deeply concerned, and you can understand why.
28 min: Lamine Yamal bends a ludicrous pass inside, behind the Villa back line, looking for Raphinha. Is he offside? It’s academic, because his touch is heavy and he cannot control the ball. Lovely delivery by Lamine Yamal all the same.
26 min: Oh my. Oh dear! What are Villa doing? What sort of thing is happening here? Suzuki tries to play it out from the back again and it’s obvious, before he even does it, what the upshot is going to be. Sure enough the ball is lost on the edge, and Gordon hammers a shot from an angle, that is saved in desperate fashion by the Villa goalie.
24 min: Lamine Yamal is making short work of Maatsen down the Barcelona right, thus far, it is true.
My team talk for Villa (like it always in the glory days at five-a-side) would have been: “Just keep it tight at the back early on, lads.” To be fair, that would have been very useful advice.
23 min: “This new iteration of the Villa team has come together faster than I could possibly have imagined,” emails Benjamin. “But our defence could have done with strengthening even before the summer’s team evisceration, and where Cash, Lindelof and Pau are all very good – on their day – this is not a wholly confident Villa fan assuming my stool in the Frog & Fiddle.
“While Gordon has stepped up magnificently post-move, and is legitimately a part of an intimidating Barça attack, Cash has the chops to match him… Maatsen vs Yamal, though … stuff of nightmares!
“This will be a fascinating test of this nascent team. Our season doesn’t hinge on this, but a win would probably outstrip the achievements of the prior Champion’s League campaign.”
20 min: Villa counter down the right, and quickly. Manzambi plays Jackson in, and he’s in acres of space due to Barcelona’s high line: the forward suddenly has just the goalie to beat! But García comes way, way out of his area and puts in a vital tackle.
19 min: Another chance for Villa! Manzambi meets a square ball from Jackson, from the Villa right, but he scuffs it horribly! McGinn did well to step over the ball and leave it for Manzambi there.
16 min: A dangerous run by Gordon down the hosts’ left. He squares the ball low but neither Raphinha nor Lamine Yamal can meet the cross with an effort on goal.
They replay the goal on telly: Lamine Yamal was exceptionally alert to the possibility of Joan García playing the horrible pass that he did after the pass out from Suzuki. It was so naive from Villa. And Emery will be disgusted to have conceded such a soft goal. Still, there is still hope …
14 min: McGinn pumps a ball down into the left channel looking for the run of Jackson. Joan García, the goalie, plays sweeper and deals with it easily. Still, Villa don’t look intimidated, even if they’ve handed Barcelona a one-goal lead on a silver platter.
13 min: Lamine Yamal sprints to the byline again with the ball under his command. But then, the ball sneaks out for a goal kick before he squares it.
Oh, he is human!
11 min: Maatsen goes in the book after Lamine Yamal mugs him off, touching the ball past the Villa defender, and going to ground. Now a nervy disciplinary tightrope to walk for the full-back for a mere 80min or so …
9 min: Chances for Villa to hit back immediately! Cash hammers a volley just wide! Another corner – and João Gomes’s point-blank range effort is blocked by Cancelo! That was a brave block by the Barça defender.
Villa look to play it out from the back. Suzuki passes to João Gomes, on the edge of the area, who plays a loose first-time pass that is pounced on by Lamine Yamal. The Spain international doesn’t need a second invitation and tucks a simple finish into the bottom corner. Defensive suicide from Villa.
Goal: 7 min: Barcelona 1-0 Aston Villa (Lamine Yamal)
Oh dear.
7 min: Raphinha’s set-piece is a low, skiddy one and flashes past the far post. Four or five Barça players may have been offside …
5 min: Lamine Yamal gets on the ball near the Villa penalty area and is barged into by Buendía. It’s a free-kick in a very handy spot for the home team … the Prince of Wales is pictured up in the stands, keeping a watchful eye on the action. Raphinha will hit the free-kick.
5 min: López escapes down the Barcelona right and squares for Gordon, whose shot is blocked. Another little warning for Villa …
3 min: McGinn has his pocket picked in a defensive area, but he gets away with it. He wasn’t alert enough there and Villa won’t be able to afford many lapses like that … Mind you, there shape and composure looks good overall, based on the very early exchanges.
2 min: The 20-year-old Brian Fariñas made his debut for Barcelona at the weekend and keeps his place tonight. I may have said it was three changes for Barça, by the way: it is in fact two – Gerard and Gordon the players coming in.
First half kick-off
Vamos!
The Champions League anthem will not be played tonight. There will be an opportunity to remember Jesús de Miguel, the Tenerife player who died this week after an on-field collision, as well as the victims of last week’s train crash in Spain.
Emery’s managerial career record against Barcelona is played 30, won three, lost 21.
It’s hammering down with rain in Barcelona. Well, it is November. It’ll be a nice greasy surface for Villa’s fluid attacking game.
The players and officials are beginning to assemble in the tunnel.
We are, quite literally, less than 10 minutes away from kick-off at the Camp Nou.
There is still time for all you Villa fans to send me your hopes, dreams and fears for this box-office clash in Catalonia.
Email me.
“I take 10, 20 minutes every day to sit, visualise, be calm and meditate,” Anthony Gordon tells Jules Breach, in a pre-recorded interview, on TNT Sports.
“And I am truly grateful for my life, for what I’ve created.”
Was it always his dream to play abroad?
“It seems quite difficult for people to understand that kind of ambition, if you don’t have it yourself … but I think if you speak to any of my family, friends, people who’ve been close to me, I’ve said this from very, very early.
“Ultimately, now, like most humans – you get to where you want to get to, and then you just want more. I need goals, I need trophies, I need everything else that comes with it.”
Matty Cash v Anthony Gordon, then, on the Barcelona left?
And Lamine Yamal v Ian Maatsen on the other flank.
It’s going to be an incredible defensive shift from Villa if they fly back to England with some sort of positive result. You better believe it!
Jules Breach and Gerrard were just having a chat for TNT Sports as the Barcelona players went out to warm up. Gerrard has never seen Lamine Yamal play in the flesh before.
Anthony Gordon spotted Gerrard and came and said hello. Lamine Yamal then immediately followed suit. Gerrard gave him a slightly awkward hug, and looked genuinely star-struck that the Spain international had come over to say hi. That’s a measure of the young man’s growing reputation right there.
“Good evening,” says Emery, speaking to TNT Sports. “Yes, we are excited …
“Today is the highest level in European football. And we are ready … but of course, we know it is going to be a very tough match … but we need to understand how we can compete. How we can exploit our capacity, our skills … and being organised.
“Barcelona are very, very competitive – favourites in this competition – they have now six points, and playing at home, after defeat against Paris Saint-Germain, they must win – it’s a good test to see how we can compete when the level is high, and when the opponent needs, need to compete against us.”
If you were unfortunate enough to miss Barney Ronay’s excellent preview … here it is again:
“European football has done a pretty good job in the past two seasons of turning its autumn fixture blizzard into a hopeless and baggy blur. What serious sport actually has a 36-team mega table? And a deeply predictable 36-team mega-table at that, one where you pretty much know who’s going to be up there at the end of it. If the intention was to create a series of exhibition-style TV-product events, thereby heading off the Super League’s desire to do exactly the same, then mission semi-accomplished.
“There are still exceptions in the period of drift, one-off events that speak to the colour and cultural weight of this competition. Tuesday night is one of them, for Villa’s fans a genuine staging point in the progress of this ever-evolving team, with a chance, dependent on results elsewhere, to actually top the Champions League mega-table at this early stage.”
Of the four sides who have three wins out of three, it’s PSG and Villa in action today. Liverpool and Real Madrid both play tomorrow.
Here’s the league phase table:
Champions League fixtures ce soir:
Atlético Madrid v Bayern Munich
Barcelona v Aston Villa
Bodø/Glimt v Lille
Feyenoord v Inter
LASK v Slovan Bratislava
Manchester United v Roma
Villareal v Paris Saint-Germain
Steven Gerrard and Ally McCoist are on co-commentary duty for TNT Sports alongside Darren Fletcher in Barcelona. The sight and sound of Gerrard has reminded me to recap CarragherGate:
“Jamie Carragher has apologised to Aston Villa for using “clumsy and wrong” language when discussing the club, after club had threatened legal action. “I’d like to apologise to Aston Villa, the owners and their fans. My language this week was clumsy and wrong,” Carragher wrote on X on Saturday.
“I can assure Villa fans it was tongue-in-cheek but I can understand it’s not come across that way, so apologies. Good luck today UTV [Up the Villa]!”
“Aston Villa have dropped their threat of legal action against Jamie Carragher following an apology from the Sky Sports pundit.
“Villa announced on Friday that they would be taking legal action against Carragher for “unacceptable insults about the club and its fans” on the Stick to Football podcast. The former Liverpool defender had told Villa supporters to “shut the fuck up” after being criticised for suggesting Unai Emery should consider taking the Manchester United job if Michael Carrick is sacked.”
Will Unwin is blogging crisis club Manchester United v Roma here:
Teams
Emery makes two changes to the side that drew 1-1 with Fulham on Saturday: João Gomes into midfield, for Leon Goretzka, and Emi Buendía comes into the forward line, replacing Alysson.
Also two changes from Barcelona’s Hansi Flick: he brings in Gerard in central defence, for Frenkie de Jong, and Anthony Gordon for Karim Adeyemi up front.
Barcelona (4-2-3-1): Joan García; Fariñas, Cubarsi, Gerard, Cancelo; Rodri, Gonzalez; Yamal, López, Gordon; Raphinha. Subtitutes: Szczesny, Livakovic, Balde, Gavi, Gabriel Jesus, Adeyemi, de Jong, Bernal, Abdelkarim, Goren, Victor, Campos.
Aston Villa (4-2-3-1): Suzuki; Cash, Lindelof, Torres, Maatsen; Kamara, João Gomes; McGinn, Manzambi, Buendia; Jackson. Subtitutes: Bizot, Wright, Harwood-Bellis, Mings, Barkley, Garnacho, Abraham, Mbaye, Goretzka, Alysson, Hemmings.
Referee: Davide Massa (Italy)
Team news will be along shortly …
Any other Villa fans in this evening?
Email me.
Some Villa fans, earlier, lapping up the atmosphere in Barcelona.
Dos cervezas por favor.
And some Spanish-themed Villains here:
“Very fortunate to be at the game tonight,” emails Dave. “The stadium and facilities around it are more like the NFL. It’s a brilliant experience.
“Villa smash and grab, sit deep and get them on the break. Ride the luck in the last 20 and get it launched.”
Brilliant – thanks for your email Dave – enjoy the occasion and good luck.
Barney Ronay
“One more match. Just one more match.” Sure, Unai. Sure. Just like all the other matches that generated a local tremor measured at 1 on the Richter scale when that seventh and final goal went in at the Camp Nou in March 2017.
“It was inevitable that Unai Emery would be asked about the Remontada game on the eve of Aston Villa’s Champions League engagement with Barcelona, his own first trip back to the Camp Nou in this competition since one of the most visceral and traumatic experiences of his managerial career.
“Emery was Paris Saint-Germain’s manager the night the Neymar-Messi-Suárez triple-godhead reversed a 4-0 first-leg quarter-final deficit in this stadium.
Speaking of Barcelona and subtext:
“Plays, novels, songs. They all have a subtext. Which I take to mean a hidden message or import of some kind. So subtext, we know. But what do you call the message or meaning that’s right there on the surface? Completely open and obvious. They never talk about that. What do you call … what’s above the subtext?”
“The text.”
Preamble
Aston Villa are three from three in the Champions League. Unai Emery’s side could top the league phase table outright after this evening’s meeting with Barcelona. But that is only part of the story.
Emery returns to the Camp Nou – scene of one of his most traumatic nights as a manager – when in 2017 Barcelona overturned a 4-0 first-leg defeat by Paris Saint-Germain, winning 6-1 on the night, 6-5 on aggregate.
So there would be subtext aplenty without the recent furore surrounding the pundit Jamie Carragher, Villa’s threatened legal action, Carragher’s apology, Villa dropping their legal threat … not to mention the fact that Emery has been linked with the Old Trafford managerial poisoned chalice hotseat amid Michael Carrick’s ongoing struggles.
Throw in a disappointing week on the pitch for the Villains – an emphatic Carabao Cup by Bournemouth and a 1-1 draw with Fulham in the Premier League on Saturday – and it’s going to be fascinating to witness what transpires on the hallowed Camp Nou turf. Dani Olmo, Andreas Christensen, Eric García and Xavi Espart are expected to miss out for La Liga-leading Barça, while the forward Nicolas Jackson should be ready to go for Villa.
Emery knows a thing or two about competing in European knockout competitions so regardless of subtexts and subplots, this should be a cracking game of association football. Vamos!
Kick-off: 8pm GMT
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