---
title: "Aston Villa news: Unai Emery challenges players to raise their standards after Barcelona defeat"
canonical: "https://readastonvilla.com/2026/11/04/aston-villa-news-emery-demands-more-after-barcelona-defeat/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Lucie Turner"
section: "Aston Villa News"
published: "2026-11-04T09:30:00Z"
modified: "2026-11-04T09:30:00Z"
---

# Aston Villa news: Unai Emery challenges players to raise their standards after Barcelona defeat

Unai Emery has challenged his Aston Villa squad to raise their standards. This is after their Champions League campaign suffered its first major setback against Barcelona.

They suffered a 3-0 loss to Barcelona last night. Lamine Yamal scored before Raphinha doubled their lead in the second half. Villa have ended their perfect start to the competition after three consecutive victories.

But Emery believes it can be a learning curve as Villa try to establish themselves as one of Europe’s elite. He also said his players need to be more clinical going forward.

## **Emery refuses to abandon Villa’s playing style**

Villa’s evening began badly when João Gomes lost possession inside his own half. Barcelona quickly punished the mistake, with Yamal opening the scoring after just seven minutes.

The midfielder came under pressure following a pass from goalkeeper Zion Suzuki. However, Emery refused to blame Gomes for the incident.

But Villa’s manager insisted that the club were fully committed to playing out from the back and that mistakes were a natural part of developing a style to compete with Europe’s strongest opponents.

But Emery believes the intensity of Barcelona’s pressing was a key learning point for his team. Villa have been developing their style of play for a few years now. He believes they can improve whilst still playing their way.

But the loss showed the difference between competing with teams at that level and playing to that standard. He wants his players to learn from that and come back with a positive attitude.

## **Finishing becomes Emery’s biggest concern**

Even if Barcelona had the upper hand in many key parts of the game, Villa had chances to score. Unfortunately, the chances could not be converted into any goals.

According to Emery, the failure to finish chances was a letdown. While he felt the score was not a fair representation of Villa’s performance at the game, he conceded that Barcelona earned the win.

The manager also pointed out that Villa are in a good position in the Champions League. Picking up 9 points from their first 3 games ahead of their trip to Spain.

However, Emery believes that this should not distract from the work that needs to be done. He feels that the display on Tuesday has given him some useful information on where to target improvements within his squad.

He made his point clear that Villa have to be more demanding of themselves, especially in creating and capitalising on chances against a side of Barcelona’s quality.

The whole squad will need to learn from their mistakes.

## **McGinn believes Villa will benefit from the experience**

Captain John McGinn also praised Barcelona’s display and said it was a special moment for him to play at the famous stadium, having only visited as a tourist before.

The midfielder stated that Barcelona demonstrated their ability to make the right decisions at important times while capitalising on Villa’s blunders. He added that their counter-attacking threat came from their experience and prior history with playing too many well-known teams in Europe.

Villa will turn their attention back to Premier League action on Sunday when they visit Manchester United. Emery has stressed that they will need to be more consistent and clinical and make better decisions.

Although they are in a strong position in the Champions League, they have also highlighted areas needing improvement.