Villa lose to Barcelona in the Champions League. Dave Woodhall isn’t too downhearted.
I’ve often said that one of Villa’s biggest failings over the years is that we treat the big stage like a day out rather than a routine event. Bearing that in mind, though, both players and supporters could have been excused for looking round in awe and not a little envy at what is scheduled to be the biggest stage in Europe when it’s finished.
Unai celebrated his birthday by saying the only thing that mattered was the result. John McGinn added that this was an evening to savour for the supporters. Both were correct in what they said, but both of their hopes weren’t to be.
The team was as expected, the opposition missing a couple of players, not that you could call their team weakened. If the idea was to contain them in the early stages, the tactic barely had a chance to get started before an error from Joao Gomes gave Barcelona the lead. There was the fear that given such a start and the quality of the opposition it could prove to be a long, embarrassing night but Villa got back into the game and began to make chances of their own. Matty Cash and Victor Lindelof had shots deflected away and there were a couple of opportunities for Johan Manzambi that he could perhaps have done better with.
But, none of them went in and Villa’s profligacy was shown up after 52 minutes when a shot was deflected off Pao Torres to wrongfoot Zion Suzuki. Our deflections went wide, theirs went in; as if the home side really needed such luck. Twelve minutes later the result really was put beyond any doubt and the goal was worthy of the occasion.
To their credit, Villa still refused to give up and Leon Goretzka hit the post with a header later on. In the end, three-nil was unfair on Villa, but at this level there’s no point in making chances if they aren’t taken. The weather had been like That Night in Istanbul, and so was the scoreline, albeit the wrong way round.
To put the evening into context, if Villa were to have had any hope of getting something from the game, every player had to be on top form and that didn’t happen. John McGinn is playing poorly, at least by his own standards, while Nicolas Jackson had his quietest game since signing for the Villa. Manzambi should also have been looking to show his ability, but was kept out of the game by a ruthless Barcelona defensive display.
If you do want to take any consolation, though, you can say that the players will have learned from the experience. We’re still re-building and there’ll be off-days as well as good ones. Barcelona knew what to do instinctively and did it with the ease that comes from years of playing together. You can also remember that this is our fourth season back in Europe, we’ve come up against some of the best teams in the world and tonight was the first time we’ve been outplayed.
