Game is over and the final score is Barcelona 3-0 Aston Villa. Yamal opened the scoring within seven minutes, making him the Champions League’s top scorer before turning 20.
Lamine Yamal made Champions League history as his early strike inspired Barcelona to a comfortable 3-0 victory over Aston Villa at Camp Nou on Tuesday.
The Spanish youngster opened the scoring in the seventh minute after Barcelona capitalised on a defensive mistake by the visitors.
With the goal, Yamal became the highest-scoring teenager in Champions League history with 14 goals, moving ahead of Kylian Mbappe, who previously held the record with 13.
His early breakthrough paved the way for an impressive Barcelona performance, while Raphinha sealed the victory with two second-half goals as Aston Villa manager Unai Emery suffered his 22nd defeat in 31 meetings against the Catalan giants.
Villa entered Matchday 4 having spent more time in the lead than any other team in this season’s Champions League. However, their defensive mistakes proved costly.
The visitors gifted Barcelona the opener after Joao Gomes played a careless pass inside his own penalty area, following a poor goal-kick from Zion Suzuki.
Yamal collected the ball, composed himself before his marker and curled a superb effort into the bottom-left corner.
Another questionable goal-kick from Suzuki nearly resulted in a second Barcelona goal, but the goalkeeper recovered to deny Anthony Gordon. Meanwhile, Nicolas Jackson escaped a potential red card following a VAR review for a late challenge on Pau Cubarsi.
Barcelona eventually doubled their advantage seven minutes after the restart when Raphinha’s deflected effort found its way past Suzuki.
The Brazilian completed his brace 12 minutes later, making it 3-0. Joao Cancelo advanced from the left before delivering an excellent outside-of-the-boot pass behind Villa’s defence, allowing Raphinha to finish brilliantly.
Leon Goretzka struck the woodwork as Villa searched for a consolation, but that proved to be their closest opportunity. Yamal also came close to adding another goal on an unforgettable night for the teenager.
Rampant Raphinha and Brilliant Yamal Lead Barcelona’s Charge
Although Aston Villa deserve credit for attempting to play boldly from the back, their build-up was repeatedly careless, allowing one of Europe’s most dangerous attacking teams to punish them.
Villa have now recorded seven errors leading to goals across all competitions this season, the joint-highest figure among Premier League clubs alongside Sunderland.
Yamal, making his 37th Champions League appearance, has now recorded 27 goal contributions for Barcelona in the competition, matching Samuel Eto’o’s tally. Only seven players have registered more for the club.
The teenage forward dominated several attacking statistics, finishing the match with six shots, three attempts on target, 12 touches inside the opposition’s penalty area and seven successful dribbles.
However, Barcelona’s attacking threat extended beyond Yamal, with Raphinha delivering an outstanding second-half performance.
The Brazilian has now scored in each of his last three appearances across all competitions.
Since making his Champions League debut for Barcelona in September 2022, only Harry Kane (51), Kylian Mbappe (44), Vinicius Junior (41) and Erling Haaland (38) have recorded more goal contributions than Raphinha’s 37, comprising 23 goals and 14 assists.
Raphinha has also moved level with Robert Lewandowski on Barcelona’s all-time Champions League scoring list, with only Lionel Messi (120) and Luis Suarez (25) ahead of the Brazilian.
Barcelona created chances worth 1.96 expected goals (xG) and registered 16 shots, eight of which were on target. Aston Villa, meanwhile, managed just 0.72 expected goals and recorded only one shot on target.
The defeat marked Villa’s first loss in this season’s Champions League league phase after three consecutive victories.
The result dropped Emery’s side to third in the standings, while Barcelona climbed above them into second place on goal difference.