Martin O'Neill, the Aston Villa manager, says that while his players were given a harsh lesson by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge yesterday, the performance of Luiz Felipe Scolari's side was something he hopes his players will aspire to.

Chelsea produced their most convincing performance of the season as they eased to most one-sided of 2-0 victories, but O'Neill preferred to focus on Chelsea's majestic performance, rather than Villa's shortcomings.

"I thought Chelsea were absolutely brilliant," O'Neill said. "We would have to have our best players playing at the top of their game to compete today, never mind anything else.

"It was a harsh lesson. It's where you want to be, what you want to aspire to, and I felt they were terrific. We didn't help ourselves, of course, but that doesn't matter. I think it's probably the best Chelsea have played. Some of the best sides in Europe might have been well beaten."

"I woke up this morning, thinking we would really win the game - so I am a bit daft - because we have been playing well and we came into the game at Stamford Bridge with plenty of confidence.

"Even when we went a goal behind I thought, 'If we can weather this, our good players will come to the fore'. But we weren't there and Chelsea were just brilliant. I thought they were magnificent and we genuinely could have learned a lot."

The Villa manager highlighted Frank Lampard's performance as one that Villa's overrun midfield would do well to study.

"I thought Lampard was absolutely outstanding," said O'Neill. "We have a good distance to go yet to be up competing on a regular basis with these sides.

"We will regroup, we get ourselves ready and prepare for the next game. But in many aspects [it was] a great experience here today. We were at the wrong end of it but an experience because that's where you want to be - that's what you want to be aspiring to."