Barcelona returned to winning ways in the Champions League
on Tuesday at Camp Nou with a comfortable win over Premier League side Aston Villa. Lamine Yamal opening the scoring for the hosts, Raphinha scored twice, and the Catalans also secured a first Champions League clean sheet since April 2025.
Let's see how the players fared:
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Joan Garcia – 9Spectacular sweeper-keeper, he was as good as an extra defender for large phases, sprinting out to tackle John McGinn, Johan Manzambi and Nicolas Jackson on multiple occasions. Also had an assured performance in goal, solid distribution and his first clean sheet in Europe for Barca.
Joao Cancelo – 7Allowed McGinn past him a few times but usually covered back reasonably well and popped up with a great trivela assist in the second half that received a big cheer from the fans.
Gerard Martin – 7Solid all round, intercepted a few dangerous crosses and a put in a largely error-free display. Encouraging signs ahead of the weekend and a big game against Atletico.
Pau Cubarsi – 7Was beaten in a dangerous area once early in the first half but had a great game after that and set up more than a few promising attacks with his excellent distribution from the back. However, he looked exhausted and running on fumes for much of the game though, needs some rest ASAP.
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Brian Farinas – 8Looked like a veteran full-back, not an out-of-position midfielder on his second appearance for the club. He linked up with Lamine Yamal excellently and made Emi Buendia completely invisible with his defending and marking. Not error-free but extremely promising signs.
Rodri – 7
One of his better games since arriving until he was taken off. Hopefully his early substitution was simply precautionary
and nothing serious. Did control the game quite well.
Pedri – 7Quiet first half but much better in the second, dominated proceedings and kept hold of the ball well – nothing spectacular but the touch of calm he provided was what the team needed, and a couple of recoveries high up the field almost led to goals.
Fermin Lopez – 8
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Worked his socks off, was a pressing machine, took and gave a few hard tackles for the team and also provided a good assist for Raphinha.
Anthony Gordon – 7.5
Part of the entire front four that pressed insanely hard, his pace tortured Matty Cash but he seems to hit a cross immediately after running down the wing, instead of looking up for better passing options. Still a good game overall.
Raphinha – 9Give him the 2027 Ballon d'Or already. His brace takes him to 19 goals in 13 appearances this season and his pressure triggered the defensive mistake leading to the early Yamal opener.
Lamine Yamal – 8
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His dribbling wasn't quite as smooth as usual and didn't manage to dominate Ian Maatsen but still managed to score a well-taken finish and for once, he joined in the rest of the attack's work rate, and the results were there to see.
Substitutes and manager
Marc Bernal – 7.5
Hardly missed Rodri with him around. His vision and pass accuracy is spectacular. Thank you, La Masia
Frenkie de Jong – 6.5
Nothing spectacular. He did the basics right and didn't complicate matters. He was brought on simply to see the game out and he did that well.
Gavi – 7.5
His fierce aggression is still around and his game doesn't seem to have been too affected by his injuries either. Looking forward to more game time for him.
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Gabriel Jesus – 6
Possession was mostly just held in the midfield after he was brought on, he barely touched the ball.
Alejandro Balde – 7.5
Did no harm to his claims for a starting spot. He outpaced Mbaye to prevent a couple potential scoring opportunities, he's running a lot harder than previous seasons and his few passes were top-notch too.
Hansi Flick – 8
Was under pressure to respond to the two defeats last week but stuck to his guns with his defensive selections and it mostly paid off with the team finally defending as a pack rather than individually, though Cancelo still isn't quite it in defence. Also made the right changes, although perhaps a little late, and his tactics were on point. Barca dominated the ball against a counter-attacking team like Villa, ending with 63% possession and barely conceding any good chances
