Barcelona beat Aston Villa 3-0 and Manchester United fight back from 2-0 down to beat Roma 3-2 in Champions League
Barcelona beat Aston Villa 3-0 at Camp Nou while Manchester United staged a late comeback from 2-0 down to beat Roma 3-2 at Old Trafford on Champions League matchday four.
Barcelona beat Aston Villa 3-0 and Manchester United came back from two goals down to beat Roma 3-2 on a dramatic Tuesday night in the UEFA Champions League, as matchday four of the league phase produced two of the most eye-catching results of the season so far.
At the Spotify Camp Nou, Barcelona took control early against an Aston Villa side facing what had been billed as their sternest test of the season. Lamine Yamal gave the home side the lead after pouncing on an error, and from that moment the Spanish champions rarely looked like letting the game slip.
The second half belonged to Raphinha. The Brazilian winger made it 2-0 in the 53rd minute and then added a third in the 64th minute after fine work from Joao Cancelo, turning a competitive contest into a comfortable victory and underlining why Barcelona have been described as one of the free-scoring sides of this season's competition.
For Villa, managed by Unai Emery, the defeat was a reminder of the step up in class at the very top of European football. They had arrived in Barcelona in strong form, but they could not live with the hosts once Barcelona found their rhythm, and the 3-0 scoreline reflected the balance of the second half in particular.
At Old Trafford, the story was very different. Manchester United fell 2-0 behind to Roma, with Matias Soule putting the visitors ahead before Donyell Malen doubled the lead from the penalty spot, and at that stage a difficult night for the home side looked like turning into a heavy defeat.
The comeback began when captain Bruno Fernandes pulled a goal back from a retaken penalty. That strike changed the mood inside the stadium completely, and United, who had been second best for long spells, suddenly began to press Roma back into their own half.
Matheus Cunha then took centre stage. He equalised in the 83rd minute after seizing on a wayward touch, and just three minutes later he rocketed a shot into the corner to complete the turnaround and put United 3-2 ahead, sparking celebrations that spilled into the stands as he jumped into the crowd.
The drama did not end there, with Cunha later sent off, but United held on for a victory that will feel like far more than three points. Coming from two goals down against a side that had controlled the first half, the win gives Michael Carrick's team a much-needed lift and a result their supporters will remember.
Elsewhere on Tuesday night, Paris Saint-Germain won 6-0 at Villarreal and Bayern Munich won 2-0 at Atletico Madrid, while Galatasaray beat Stuttgart 2-0 and Sporting CP won 1-0 at Shakhtar Donetsk in the early kick-offs, rounding off a high-scoring set of matchday four fixtures.
With the league phase running until late January, every point at this stage shapes the race for the knockout rounds, and Tuesday's results could prove significant. Barcelona will look to carry their attacking form into the remaining fixtures, Villa will aim to respond after a chastening night in Spain, and United will hope that a comeback of this kind can spark a run of results rather than stand alone as a single memorable evening.
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