ASTON VILLA 6 ALBION 1

He did not spell it out but the inference was pretty clear.

Roberto De Zerbi wants his side to respond to this hammering at Aston Villa in the same way as they did a 5-1 reverse at home to Everton towards the end of last season.

In terms of scoreline, that defeat in May is the closest the Seagulls have suffered in their year-and-a-bit under their head coach to this mauling in the West Midlands.

The performances and the pattern of the game were a bit different.

But the feeling of intense disappointment and bewilderment were similar.

So can Albion react on a warm night in Marseille in the same way as they did in the spring sunshine of North London?

Will they show the quality, the resilience, the confidence and composure to do something similar to the 3-0 win at Arsenal which followed defeat by Everton?

De Zerbi promised we would see the true Brighton that day after their aberration against the Toffees.

He used the same words in his post-match press conference at Villa.

The message was that, on Thursday by the Mediterranean, we will see a shimmering Seagulls performance far removed from the car crash of a display we witnessed down the road from Spaghetti Junction.

That does not necessarily mean they will secure a first European victory or even point, of course. No one is demanding another 3-0 win.

As De Zerbi and other coaches are often at pains to point out, you can control your performance, not the result, even if the two things are often closely related.

The demand will be for a response - and see what that leads to.

Marseille will be fired up but also in a period of transition under a new head coach as Gennaro Gattuso makes his home debut in the technical area after kicking off with a 3-2 defeat at Monaco.

De Zerbi’s side – and Gattuso’s come to that – will give themselves a far better chance if they defend better than they did on Saturday.

We know what Albion can create going forward.

Even at Villa, there were brief periods early in each half when they were a threat.

But the drip, drip, drip of annoying goals conceded in previous games turned into a damaging flood this time and that will focus minds.

De Zerbi is not pinning the goals-against tally on defenders. Or not only on defenders.

Towards the end of a pretty grim-faced press conference on Saturday afternoon, he said: “Yes, we are conceding but we have to speak honestly.

“We lost (Moises) Caicedo, we lost a very important characteristic, and we are playing in a different way.

“Only (Carlos) Baleba can play with the same characteristic as Caicedo but Baleba is not ready yet.

“He has to improve, he has to understand our style.

“In this moment we are conceding too many goals.

“The pressure of our attackers is not so strong in this moment and we are suffering too much with the defenders.

“It is not a problem of one player, two players, it is a problem of the team.”

Ollie Watkins has a field day working off that platform.

The Villa striker was first spotted in Brighton when scoring for Weston-Super-Mare, on loan from Exeter City, in a defeat at Whitehawk.

That was eight years ago. He has come a long way since then and the TV pictures cut to a close-up of England boss Gareth Southgate, who was at the game, as he completed his hat-trick.

His first came soon after Emiliano Martinez denied Pervis Estupinan at the other end and was a tap-in after John McGinn’s pass sent overlapping Matty Cash in behind Kaoru Mitoma.

Joel Veltman gave the ball away ahead of Watkins’ second, which was finished with a shot inside the near post which was either mis-hit or brilliantly disguised.

The ball rolled past Nicolo Zaniolo en route and, though he was in offside position, video assistant Stuart Attwell eventually decided he was not interfering.

Attwell also took time to approve the third, assessing whether Solly March had been fouled before Moussa Diaby’s shot (this one was definitely a mis-hit) went in off Estupinan.

The Ecuadorean, on a rare off-day, was one of three players removed at the break along with forwards Danny Welbeck and Evan Ferguson.

Joao Pedro was lively from the restart and played a huge part before fellow sub Ansu Fati pulled one back.

Albion were themselves for a while and passed and buzzed their way forward with some promise.

Nerves had begun to creep in when Fati saw his shot blocked in the goalmouth.

But Watkins started and finished, via a deflection off Adam Webster, his hat-trick goal to restore calm and precise finishes from Jacob Ramsey and Douglas Luiz increased the misery as Villa poured through.

The hosts were too intense, too potent and too eager in their press and counter-attacks while Albion, for some nice football at times, could not contain them.

One assumes Marseille’s arsenal of weapons for Thursday will include the fire, passion and intensity Villa showed.

After this painful tumble, Albion must get back on the bike at the Velodrome similar to how they did at the Emirates.

Aston Villa: Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne; Kamara (Tielemans 90), Douglas Luiz; McGinn, Diaby (Duran 79), Zaniolo (Ramsey 57); Watkins. Subs unused: Carlos, Traore, Chambers, Lenglet, Olsen, Dendoncker.

Goals: Watkins 14, 21, 65, Estupinan OG 26, Ramsey 85, Douglas Luiz 90+7.

Yellow card: Douglas Luiz 7, Digne 32, Konsa 57, Duran 90+5.

Albion: Steele; Veltman, Webster, Dunk, Estupinan (Lamptey 46); Hinshelwood (Baleba 87), Gilmour; March (Adingra 62), Welbeck (Ansu Fati 46), Mitoma; Ferguson (Joao Pedro 46). Subs unused: Verbruggen, Igor, Van Hecke, Dahoud.

Goal: Ansu Fati 50.

Yellow card: Welbeck 39, Ansu Fati 72, Dunk 79, Mitoma 84.