Yamal and Raphinha inspire Barcelona to three-goal Champions League win over Aston Villa

Barcelona ended Aston Villa’s unbeaten start to this season’s Champions League with a 3-0 victory in the fourth round, as Lamine Yamal and Raphinha continued their impressive form.

Yamal opened the scoring in the seventh minute after capitalising on a defensive error. Raphinha then struck twice after half-time, scoring in the 52nd and 64th minutes to secure a convincing win for the Catalan side.

The result moved Barcelona to nine points and second place in the standings. They are level on points with Aston Villa but sit above the English club on goal difference.

Paris Saint-Germain lead the table on 12 points after winning all four of their matches.

Barcelona’s next Champions League fixture will be away to Sabah Azerbaijani on 25 November, when they play their fifth-round match.

Yamal breaks Champions League record

Yamal now has 24 goal contributions for Barcelona this season, having scored 13 goals and provided 11 assists.

His early strike against Aston Villa was also Barcelona’s 50th home goal in the Champions League under Hansi Flick. The club have scored 52 goals at home in the competition during Flick’s 15 matches in charge.

The 14th Champions League goal of Yamal’s career also saw him become the youngest player, aged under 20, to score the most goals in the history of the competition.

Yamal has reached 14 goals in 37 Champions League appearances, moving ahead of Kylian Mbappe, who scored 13 in 23 matches.

Erling Haaland is third on the list with 10 goals in only eight matches.

De Jong reaches 300 Barcelona appearances

Frenkie de Jong made his 300th appearance for Barcelona in all competitions since joining the club.

It was the midfielder’s third appearance for Barcelona this season after returning from injury.

Across his 300 matches, De Jong has contributed to 51 goals in all competitions.