Barcelona winger Anthony Gordon says he needs to “pass the ball less and try to dribble more” as the Spanish side prepare to host unbeaten Aston Villa in the Champions League on Tuesday (20:00 GMT).
The 25-year-old England international has scored three goals in all competitions, two in La Liga and one in the Champions League, and has four La Liga assists in 13 appearances since joining Barcelona from Newcastle United in the summer for a reported €80m (£69m) including add-ons. All four assists came in his first four league games, and he has not added to that tally in the six since.
Gordon came off the bench to score an 81st-minute goal in Saturday’s 6-1 La Liga win over Deportivo Alaves, adding to earlier strikes against Getafe and Galatasaray, but believes he has yet to hit top gear under head coach Hansi Flick.
“Out of 10? I don’t know, maybe 7.5?” Gordon said at Barcelona’s Joan Gamper training ground when asked to rate his first two and a half months in Spain.
“We haven’t seen the best of Gordon yet; I can give much more. Sometimes I need to be more selfish, pass the ball less and try to dribble more. Above all, I want to score more goals and provide more assists, because that’s what decides matches.”
Barcelona will again be without defenders Andreas Christensen, Jules Kounde, Eric Garcia and Xavi Espart for the match, as well as midfielder Dani Olmo. Christensen has been back in partial training, but Flick said on Monday that he would miss Tuesday’s game. Swedish winger Roony Bardghji, who suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in training during the summer, is also unavailable.
‘You’ll see the very best of me’
With Bardghji and Olmo sidelined, Gordon is expected to start on the left of a Barcelona attack led by Lamine Yamal and Raphinha, who has 17 goals across all competitions this term after being used as the team’s number nine following the departures of Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres. Gordon says he sees no rivalry with fellow summer signing Karim Adeyemi for a starting spot and is only competing with himself.
Gordon made an immediate impression on his competitive debut at Elche in August, a 5-0 win, setting up goals for Raphinha and Fermin Lopez within six minutes of coming off the bench, and insists Flick’s system suits his natural game on the left wing.
“I’ve started well, but like I’ve said numerous times, I can do a lot more,” Gordon said. “It will take some time for me to really grow and feel settled, and when that happens you’ll see the very best of me, which you haven’t seen so far.
“I simply said I’d never played in a system like Barca’s before, and it’s something that works in my favour. As for the rest, I just focus on giving my best, whether I’m playing for five minutes or the whole match.”
Gordon warns of ‘physical’ Aston Villa
Tuesday’s match at the Spotify Camp Nou pits eighth-placed Barcelona (six points) against an Aston Villa side sitting second in the 36-team Champions League league-phase table with a maximum nine points from three games, level with four other sides.
Unai Emery’s visitors have scored 12 goals and conceded just three in Europe this season without trailing for a single minute, spearheaded by former Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson and midfielder Ross Barkley, who have both netted three Champions League goals.
Barcelona, by contrast, have gone 18 consecutive Champions League matches without keeping a clean sheet, the longest current run of any team in this season’s competition. The injury list leaves Flick with only four senior defenders, Joao Cancelo, Gerard Martin, Pau Cubarsi and Alejandro Balde. Midfielder Frenkie de Jong was used at centre-back and academy product Brian Farinas made his debut at right-back in the win over Alaves.
Having faced Villa regularly during his time at Everton and Newcastle, Gordon warned his teammates to expect a physical battle.
“They are a very good team,” Gordon said. “They have one of the best coaches in the world right now and have great players. They are on a great run as of late, so it will be a difficult game.
“They are one of the teams who are always in a game and are always ready for any type of game. It will be a very tough challenge. English teams are very physical, and I have played against Villa before.
“They are one of the most physical teams in the league and have great players. I try to remain the same and remain consistent with motivation, so the fact they are English doesn’t make it any bigger for me.”
‘Madrid and PSG are not above us’
Barcelona are looking to respond in Europe after suffering defeats in their two biggest fixtures of the campaign in October, a 4-2 Champions League loss away to holders Paris St-Germain followed by a 2-1 El Clasico home defeat by Real Madrid, in which Kylian Mbappe scored twice on either side of a Raphinha equaliser.
Despite those setbacks, Gordon rejected suggestions that Madrid and PSG are operating on a higher tier than Barcelona.
“I don’t think they’re above us,” he said. “We have to take responsibility for both losses because they’re the two biggest games we played so far this season and we lost, but I don’t think they’re above us. I think we’re a fantastic team and on any given day we can beat anybody.
“In these two games, the PSG game has a bit of context. On the previous weekend in their league they rested their whole team. We didn’t have this privilege, so we were really tired in the game. This is normal, fine, we have to take responsibility, but I think they had a massive advantage with this.”
PSG did field a largely rotated side in their Ligue 1 game at Strasbourg three days before the match, although Barcelona also played away at Real Betis that same Saturday.
Reflecting on the loss to Real Madrid, in which Barcelona had well over 60% of the possession and more shots than their opponents, Gordon added: “Madrid is the one game, the most important game we want to win. For me we should have. For me we were the much better team in the game, we had all the ball, all the possession, the better chances; but we were a slight bit off our best game. It cost us in the end, we conceded two very bad goals.”
‘Less pressure than fighting relegation’
Gordon has quickly become a popular figure among supporters at the Camp Nou, where a fan banner reading ‘Anthony is a Catalan’ appeared outside the stadium in the opening weeks of the season.
“Everybody has made me feel very welcome,” Gordon said. “Everybody has been very nice, we have a great culture here, very friendly, very lively because everyone is so young. So it’s great to be a part of it.”
Having battled Premier League relegation during his time at Everton before helping Newcastle qualify for the Champions League and lift the 2024-25 League Cup, Gordon says the demands of playing for Barcelona feel lighter than fighting for survival at the bottom of the table.
“To be competing on every front for every trophy is definitely the most enjoyable,” he said. “People think it’s more pressure, but it’s actually less pressure than fighting relegation and fighting to push up the table for the Champions League.
“I want to win every trophy. I want to be the best. This club allows me to do so.”
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