The baffling question surrounding Unai Emery and Aston Villa ahead of Barcelona showdown

It is the biggest club from England's second city against the biggest from Spain's. And if the similarities between Birmingham and Barcelona may end there – the Brummie separatist movement is rather less prominent that its Catalan counterpart, for instance – then a trip to Camp Nou is both a sign of a new eminence and part of a broader question about Aston Villa 's status. In footballing terms, England's second city has often tended to be Manchester, Liverpool or London.