Emery insists Aston Villa will learn from Barcelona defeat

Unai Emery says Aston Villa will use their 3-0 Champions League defeat to Barcelona as a learning experience as they look to improve in Europe.

Villa’s winning start in the competition came to an end at Camp Nou, but Emery felt his side showed enough in the first half to take encouragement from the performance.

“We played the first half like we planned,” Emery said.

“There was an error for their goal, but it’s part of our style of play.

“Mistakes at this level can make it a tough experience, but we overcame the goal and created chances to score.

“How we were feeling in the first half on the field was really good – only the result was not good.”

Emery admitted Barcelona’s second goal was particularly damaging but felt Villa still had opportunities to get back into the game.

“We should’ve felt optimistic to play the second half in the same way, but the second goal was completely punishing us,” he said.

“Even then we had chances to score and maybe we could have felt confident to get some points. The third goal ended the match.”

Villa had won their opening three Champions League games before the defeat and Emery says their strong start leaves them in a good position ahead of their next European fixture against Galatasaray.

“How we are being consistent in the Champions League with three wins before this match is giving us nine points,” he said.

“Today, losing, we can have our next challenge in Istanbul against Galatasaray.”

Emery believes facing Barcelona provided a useful test of where Villa need to improve.

“Barcelona is at the highest level in Europe, so it was a good test for us and gave us a lot of information about how we can get better,” he said.

“How we can build our structure stronger for the next weeks and months in this competition and in the Premier League.”