John McGinn heard the question. His eyes darted around Barcelona’s packed media auditorium for a second or two on Monday night. What was it like to be about to play in the Nou Camp, the Aston Villa skipper had been asked, as if this were to be some sort of spin off from Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.

McGinn was careful with his answer. He did not seek to downplay the nature of the occasion or the thrill that comes with lining up in such a majestic arena. But he was determined not to play the wide-eyed ingenu. ‘What our club is trying to do now,’ McGinn said, ‘is make this normal, make this a yearly experience.’

So when he and his team-mates walked up the flight of steps from the dressing rooms into the vast bowl of the stadium on Tuesday evening, they were here to show that they were not arrivistes. Villa is a historic club. They won this competition in 1982, ten years before Barcelona ever did. They were not here for a treat or to get patted on the back just for turning up.

It is nearly 20 years since Liverpool became the last English club to win here and nobody gave Villa too much chance of ending that drought. They are being told constantly that the odds are stacked against them and that their much-admired manager, Unai Emery, may be tempted by the entreaties of struggling ‘giants’ elsewhere.

That was the reason why this game early in the league phase had attained so much importance. For Villa, it was a symbol of something they aspire to. They want to get used to belonging in this company, to walking up those steps, to emerging into the stadium in the pouring rain, and staring at players of the calibre of Lamine Yamal, Rodri and Pau Cubarsi staring back at them.

It still feels as if they stand on the cusp of something bigger but they blew their shot at proving that on Tuesday night. They needed to be at their best to have a chance of beating Hansi Flick’s side, which sits atop LaLiga, and they were far too naïve in defence to get close to causing a shock. They are rising but this was a step too far at this stage of their evolution.

Lamine Yamal (centre) and Barcelona had plenty to smile about after beating Aston Villa 3-0

The Nou Camp, which is still in the midst of an extensive renovation and was only about two thirds full, was ringed by towering yellow cranes, peering down at the floodlit patch of green. From their lofty vantage point, they saw Villa get off to the worst possible start.

Only seven minutes had gone when Emery’s team gift-wrapped a present for the home side. Zion Suzuki played the ball out short to Joao Gomes but Gomes panicked under pressure from the Barcelona press and the close attention of Pedri. He played the ball square without looking, straight to Yamal.

Of all the players he could have found, Gomes had to find Yamal. The Spain superstar squared up Pau Torres and then curled the ball around him with a gentle caress of his left boot. Suzuki was helpless. The ball nestled in the corner of the net. Barcelona had scored 56 goals in 14 games before this match. Extending the hand of generosity to them must have felt particularly galling for Emery.

Villa almost hit back immediately. A stinging volley from Matty Cash was deflected wide and Barcelona looked jittery at the back. Nicolas Jackson played a square ball to Johan Manzambi, who should have equalised but scuffed his first-time effort wide of Joan Garcia. Barcelona were thankful for Garcia’s intervention when he raced out of his goal to dispossess Jackson as he charged on to a through ball.

Yamal was rampant. His battle with Ian Maatsen was a mismatch and Maatsen was booked after 11 minutes for hacking him down. Villa were still intent on playing themselves into trouble. Suzuki repeated his mistake when he tried to play the ball out to Joao Gomes. This time, Pedri beat him to it and the loose ball fell to Gordon. Gordon hit his shot towards the corner but Suzuki redeemed himself by diving to push it away.

Barcelona had the better of the play. They looked like scoring every time they went forward. Time and again, either Raphinha or Yamal found space to run at the Villa defence, which was barely coping. Even in that context, though, it was an open game. Villa had chances, too. Manzambi forced a fine save out of Garcia. A Jackson breakaway was thwarted by a last-ditch block.

But seven minutes after the break, Barcelona doubled their lead. Fermin Lopez played a clever ball to Raphinha, who had found a yard of space in the box. Raphinha, LaLiga’s leading scorer this season, drilled a left-foot shot goalwards and it deflected off the heel of Torres, wrong-footed Suzuki and rolled over the line.

Barcelona put the game out of reach midway through the half when Joao Cancelo forced his way past McGinn on the left flank and hit a sumptuous cross into the box with the outside of his right foot. Raphinha gambled on the path of the ball, darted behind his marker and tucked the ball away.

Substitute Leon Goretzka hit the face of a post for Villa late on but the game was already gone. There was no shame in losing to a team who are one of the favourites to win the competition this season but there was frustration in the way Villa had handed their opponents the advantage.

Emery looked bedraggled as he stood on the touchline in the rain, arms folded, shaking his head. This was his 15th defeat in 16 visits to the Nou Camp. As Villa’s coach fights to edge his team closer to the elite of the game, this game will become just one more bad memory.

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