‘You cannot do that’ – Yamal punishes Gomes error to put Barca ahead
Video credit: TNT Sports
Instead, the Barca youngster was recognised with the Koba trophy, an award for the best young talent, for the third successive year.
Yamal came third in the Ballon d’Or voting, with Real Madrid and France striker Mbappe in second.
Barcelona were hosting Villa on Tuesday in the Champions League at the Nou Camp in their fourth match in the league format.
‘Freak of a player’ – Gerrard compares Yamal to Messi and Ronaldo
Video credit: TNT Sports
Villa started the match with a perfect record of three wins from three matches, while Barcelona had two wins and one defeat from their opening three games in the tournament.
Yamal scored 24 goals for Barcelona in the previous season, when his team won La Liga. He also won the World Cup with Spain, defeating Argentina to claim the trophy for the second time in New Jersey in July.
This season, Yamal is on course to outscore his previous season’s total if he continues his current scoring rate. Including his goal against Villa, he has two goals in three Champions League appearances, and 12 goals in 14 matches across all competitions.
Yamal’s goal came in the seventh minute when Villa goalkeeper Zion Suzuki played short to his defenders.
They were crowded out by a high press from Hansi Flick’s men, and Yamal seized possession inside the box.
He took a touch with his left foot to make space for a shot, before curling a low effort past Suzuki and into the far corner.
Barcelona retained their 1-0 advantage going into the end of the first half against Villa.
They dominated the first period with 60 percent of possession. they had six shots, three on target, while Villa managed just one on target from five in total.
