Key events
If you were unfortunate enough to miss Barney Ronay’s excellent preview … here it is again:
“European football has done a pretty good job in the past two seasons of turning its autumn fixture blizzard into a hopeless and baggy blur. What serious sport actually has a 36-team mega table? And a deeply predictable 36-team mega-table at that, one where you pretty much know who’s going to be up there at the end of it. If the intention was to create a series of exhibition-style TV-product events, thereby heading off the Super League’s desire to do exactly the same, then mission semi-accomplished.
“There are still exceptions in the period of drift, one-off events that speak to the colour and cultural weight of this competition. Tuesday night is one of them, for Villa’s fans a genuine staging point in the progress of this ever-evolving team, with a chance, dependent on results elsewhere, to actually top the Champions League mega-table at this early stage.”
Of the four sides who have three wins out of three, it’s PSG and Villa in action today. Liverpool and Real Madrid both play tomorrow.
Here’s the league phase table:
Champions League fixtures ce soir:
Atlético Madrid v Bayern Munich
Barcelona v Aston Villa
Bodø/Glimt v Lille
Feyenoord v Inter
LASK v Slovan Bratislava
Manchester United v Roma
Villareal v Paris Saint-Germain
Steven Gerrard and Ally McCoist are on co-commentary duty for TNT Sports alongside Darren Fletcher in Barcelona. The sight and sound of Gerrard has reminded me to recap CarragherGate:
“Jamie Carragher has apologised to Aston Villa for using “clumsy and wrong” language when discussing the club, after club had threatened legal action. “I’d like to apologise to Aston Villa, the owners and their fans. My language this week was clumsy and wrong,” Carragher wrote on X on Saturday.
“I can assure Villa fans it was tongue-in-cheek but I can understand it’s not come across that way, so apologies. Good luck today UTV [Up the Villa]!”
“Aston Villa have dropped their threat of legal action against Jamie Carragher following an apology from the Sky Sports pundit.
“Villa announced on Friday that they would be taking legal action against Carragher for “unacceptable insults about the club and its fans” on the Stick to Football podcast. The former Liverpool defender had told Villa supporters to “shut the fuck up” after being criticised for suggesting Unai Emery should consider taking the Manchester United job if Michael Carrick is sacked.”
Will Unwin is blogging crisis club Manchester United v Roma here:
Teams
Emery makes two changes to the side that drew 1-1 with Fulham on Saturday: João Gomes into midfield, for Leon Goretzka, and Emi Buendía comes into the forward line, replacing Alysson.
Three changes from Barcelona’s Hansi Flick: he brings in Gerard in central defence, for Frenkie de Jong, Pau Cubarsí for Pedri, and Anthony Gordon for Karim Adeyemi up front.
Barcelona (4-2-3-1): Joan García; Fariñas, Cubarsi, Gerard, Cancelo; Rodri, Gonzalez; Yamal, López, Gordon; Raphinha. Subtitutes: Szczesny, Livakovic, Balde, Gavi, Gabriel Jesus, Adeyemi, de Jong, Bernal, Abdelkarim, Goren, Victor, Campos.
Aston Villa (4-2-3-1): Suzuki; Cash, Lindelof, Torres, Maatsen; Kamara, João Gomes; McGinn, Manzambi, Buendia; Jackson. Subtitutes: Bizot, Wright, Harwood-Bellis, Mings, Barkley, Garnacho, Abraham, Mbaye, Goretzka, Alysson, Hemmings.
Referee: Davide Massa (Italy)
Team news will be along shortly …
Any other Villa fans in this evening?
Email me.
Some Villa fans, earlier, lapping up the atmosphere in Barcelona.
Dos cervezas por favor.
And some Spanish-themed Villains here:
“Very fortunate to be at the game tonight,” emails Dave. “The stadium and facilities around it are more like the NFL. It’s a brilliant experience.
“Villa smash and grab, sit deep and get them on the break. Ride the luck in the last 20 and get it launched.”
Brilliant – thanks for your email Dave – enjoy the occasion and good luck.
Barney Ronay
“One more match. Just one more match.” Sure, Unai. Sure. Just like all the other matches that generated a local tremor measured at 1 on the Richter scale when that seventh and final goal went in at the Camp Nou in March 2017.
“It was inevitable that Unai Emery would be asked about the Remontada game on the eve of Aston Villa’s Champions League engagement with Barcelona, his own first trip back to the Camp Nou in this competition since one of the most visceral and traumatic experiences of his managerial career.
“Emery was Paris Saint-Germain’s manager the night the Neymar-Messi-Suárez triple-godhead reversed a 4-0 first-leg quarter-final deficit in this stadium.
Speaking of Barcelona and subtext:
“Plays, novels, songs. They all have a subtext. Which I take to mean a hidden message or import of some kind. So subtext, we know. But what do you call the message or meaning that’s right there on the surface? Completely open and obvious. They never talk about that. What do you call … what’s above the subtext?”
“The text.”
Preamble
Aston Villa are three from three in the Champions League. Unai Emery’s side could top the league phase table outright after this evening’s meeting with Barcelona. But that is only part of the story.
Emery returns to the Camp Nou – scene of one of his most traumatic nights as a manager – when in 2017 Barcelona overturned a 4-0 first-leg defeat by Paris Saint-Germain, winning 6-1 on the night, 6-5 on aggregate.
So there would be subtext aplenty without the recent furore surrounding the pundit Jamie Carragher, Villa’s threatened legal action, Carragher’s apology, Villa dropping their legal threat … not to mention the fact that Emery has been linked with the Old Trafford managerial poisoned chalice hotseat amid Michael Carrick’s ongoing struggles.
Throw in a disappointing week on the pitch for the Villains – an emphatic Carabao Cup by Bournemouth and a 1-1 draw with Fulham in the Premier League on Saturday – and it’s going to be fascinating to witness what transpires on the hallowed Camp Nou turf. Dani Olmo, Andreas Christensen, Eric García and Xavi Espart are expected to miss out for La Liga-leading Barça, while the forward Nicolas Jackson should be ready to go for Villa.
Emery knows a thing or two about competing in European knockout competitions so regardless of subtexts and subplots, this should be a cracking game of association football. Vamos!
Kick-off: 8pm GMT
