Bologna v Aston Villa: Line-ups, stats and preview

Aston Villa‘s latest appearance in the quarter-finals of European competition takes them to the picturesque surrounds of the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara as they visit Bologna in the first leg of a difficult Europa League tie.

Having reached the semi-finals of the Conference League in 2024 and progressed to the last eight of the Champions League last season, Villa will be hoping this campaign proves to be a case of third time lucky as they seek a first major European trophy since winning the European Cup in 1982.

The Europa League is a competition in which their manager Unai Emery has enjoyed great success, winning it three times during his tenure as coach of Sevilla.

And Villa underlined their status as favourites in the last 16, beating Lille over two legs to keep their hopes of silverware alive.

The Europa League also offers Villa an insurance policy as a secondary route into the Champions League should they fail qualify via the Premier League.

But Bologna, whose home is set against the backdrop of the scenic hills to the south of the city and has the iconic Tower of Marathon incorporated into the stadium, have the ability to make it a trip to forget for Emery’s men.

Bologna knocked out Roma after an extra-time thriller in the previous round and have scored 21 goals in the Europa League this season, tied for the most in the competition, with only two coming from the penalty spot.

Villa beat Bologna 2-0 in the league phase of last season’s Champions League and already have a 1-0 win over the Serie A side to their name this term. However, both of those victories came at home, and Villa have struggled on the road at late, their lone win in their last four away matches a 1-0 triumph at Lille.

And with Bologna on a run of four straight victories, Villa know they cannot afford to take Vincenzo Italiano’s men lightly.

Team news for Bologna v Aston Villa

Bologna defender Martin Vitik is suspended, but left-back Juan Miranda is available for selection having been banned for the second leg against Roma.

Benjamin Dominguez, Charalampos Lykogiannis, Thijs Dallinga and Jens Odgaard all missed last weekend’s fixture with Cremonese, while goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski is still out with a hamstring injury. Federico Ravaglia will continue in goal in his stead.

Villa will be without Boubacar Kamara due to a knee injury, but influential midfielder Youri Tielemans is poised to return from an ankle injury. Jadon Sancho will miss out with a shoulder injury he suffered in a friendly during the international break.

Predicted line-ups for Bologna v Aston Villa

Bologna: Ravaglia; Mario, Lucumi, Heggem, Miranda; Moro, Freuler, Ferguson; Bernardeschi, Castro, Rowe.

Aston Villa: Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne; Onana, Tielemans; McGinn, Buendia, Rogers; Watkins.

Where to watch Bologna v Aston Villa: TV and online streams

Bologna v Aston Villa kicks off at 8pm UK time on Thursday. It will be broadcast on TNT Sports 2 and is available to stream via HBO Max. Sky subscribers with a TNT package can also stream the game via Sky Go.

Stats for Bologna v Aston Villa

• Bologna have lost both of their European meetings with Villa, losing at Villa Park both times – 2-0 in last season’s Champions League and 1-0 earlier this season in the Europa League.
• Villa have kept a clean sheet in each of their last four major European matches against Italian teams (W3 D1). The last player to score for an Italian team against Villa was Dennis Bergkamp in September 1994 for Inter Milan in the UEFA Cup.
• This is Bologna’s fifth major European quarter-final – they were knocked out by Leeds in the 1966-67 Fairs Cup and Sporting CP in the 1990-91 UEFA Cup, while they eliminated FK Vojvodina in the 1967-68 Fairs Cup and Lyon in the 1998-99 UEFA Cup.
• Villa have reached a European quarter-final for a third consecutive season, knocking out Lille in 2023-24 in the Conference League and losing 5-4 on aggregate to PSG in last season’s Champions League. In the UEFA Cup/Europa League, it’s their first since 1997-98 against Atlético de Madrid (2-2 on aggregate, lost on away goals).
• Bologna have only lost one of their last 15 major European matches (W8 D6), losing to Aston Villa in September. They’re unbeaten in 11, with Fiorentina the last Italian side to have a longer unbeaten run in Europe (12 in 2023-24).
• Villa have won their last seven Europa League matches. There’s only been five previous occasions an English club have won eight major European games in a row, and all have been since the start of the 2022-23 season – West Ham (8 in 2022-23), Man City (10, May 2023 to March 2024), Liverpool (8, April 2024 to January 2025), Chelsea (9 in 2024-25) and Arsenal (8 in 2025-26).

Prediction for Bologna v Aston Villa

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