Emery admits Barcelona defeat shows Aston Villa the ‘level’

Unai Emery has said Aston Villa’s 3-0 defeat at Barcelona shows the ‘level’ his side must aim to reach.

Aston Villa’s perfect start to the Champions League league phase came to an end with an emphatic loss to the Spanish champions at the Camp Nou.

Lamine Yamal opened the scoring inside seven minutes, before Raphinha’s second-half double sealed the win for the home side.

Emery’s side did have chances in the first half via Matty Cash, Joao Gomes and Johan Manzambi, but were unable to take their opportunities. Leon Goretzka also hit the post after the break.

Villa had won all three European games before Tuesday night, and Emery said the defeat was a lesson for his team. He said the result showed that Villa still have ‘work to do’ to compete with the best in Europe consistently.

“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,” he said.

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

“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.”

Read – Alan Shearer urges Harry Kane to sign new Bayern Munich deal

See Also – Five of the best Premier League away kits in 2026/27

Follow The Football Faithful on Social Media:

Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | TikTok