A self-inflicted error could have led to a collapse. Instead Villa refused to lie down. They took the game to Barcelona in an engrossing first half that could, and perhaps should, have produced an equaliser.
The Villa manager punched the air in frustration at the Spotify Nou Camp as the Spanish champions took control. He accepted the result but argued the scoreline was perhaps more than Barcelona deserved.
The manager’s message was that the club still have work to do to match Barcelona’s level, even as they take lessons from a night that mixed frustration with fight.
Villa firmly believe they belong on this stage. After four years of progress with Emery they have another chance to prove it.
He spoke about being clinical at important moments. The test, he added, was not at the level Villa want to reach.
"We were sometimes achieving it and close to scoring goals but we must be ruthless in the attacking third, 3-0 is maybe more than we deserved, but we accept the defeat,"Emery said."The test was definitely not in the level we want to achieve but there are a lot of things to learn, a lot of experience for the players and us,"he said.
"We are working for years together and we made mistakes like that but we have always overcome those mistakes,"he said. Asked about the remaining fixture, he replied:"Just one more match.". Barcelona moved above Villa into second place in the league phase. Emery, whose team have improved over four years under him, said they had made mistakes before and recovered.