Barcelona returned to winning ways in the Champions League with an emphatic 3-0 victory over Aston Villa at Camp Nou. Lamine Yamal opened the scoring with a record-breaking goal before captain Raphinha struck twice in the second half to seal an impressive win for Hansi Flick’s side.

The hosts took the lead in the seventh minute after capitalising on a defensive mistake from Villa. A misplaced pass inside the visitors’ penalty area fell to Yamal, who controlled the ball before calmly curling a left-footed finish into the net.

The goal took Yamal’s Champions League tally to 14, making him the competition’s highest-scoring player before the age of 20. He moved ahead of Kylian Mbappe, who had previously held the record with 13 goals.

Villa threaten, but Barcelona hold firm

Aston Villa responded positively after falling behind and created several opportunities to level the score. Matty Cash sent a powerful volley narrowly wide in the ninth minute, while João Gomes also had an effort blocked by João Cancelo.

Johan Manzambi missed a promising chance from Nicolas Jackson’s pass, and Barcelona goalkeeper Joan García had to come off his line to deny Jackson shortly afterwards.

Villa goalkeeper Zion Suzuki also survived a costly mistake when his attempted short pass went straight to an opponent. Anthony Gordon’s close-range effort was saved by the Japanese goalkeeper.

García remained alert at the other end, denying another attempt from Manzambi as Barcelona went into the break with a 1-0 advantage.

Raphinha takes control after the break

Barcelona increased their intensity after the restart and doubled their lead in the 52nd minute. Fermín López picked out Raphinha near the edge of the penalty area, and the Brazilian’s shot took a deflection off Pau Torres before beating Suzuki.

Raphinha struck again 12 minutes later to put the result beyond doubt. João Cancelo produced an excellent run down the left before delivering a superb cross into the six-yard area. Raphinha arrived at the right moment and finished first time to make it 3-0.

The Brazilian has now scored four goals in this season’s Champions League and 19 across all competitions in 13 appearances. Yamal came close to adding a fourth late on, but Suzuki managed to keep out his effort.

Barcelona climb to second

Barcelona dominated possession and created the better attacking opportunities. They registered 16 shots, with eight on target, while Aston Villa managed seven attempts, only one of which tested the goalkeeper.

The victory takes Barcelona to nine points from four Champions League matches, lifting them to second place in the league-phase standings. Aston Villa, also on nine points, dropped to third after suffering their first defeat of the competition following three consecutive wins.

Barcelona had lost 4-2 away to Paris Saint-Germain in their previous Champions League outing and had also suffered a defeat against Real Madrid in La Liga. After beating Alavés 6-1 domestically, Flick’s side have now followed that result with an important European victory.

Before kick-off, both teams observed a minute’s silence in memory of those killed in Spain’s recent train disaster and Tenerife footballer Jesús de Miguel, who died after suffering a serious injury in an on-field collision during a match against Andorra.