Bologna boss targets “extraordinary” Aston Villa achievement, Unai Emery without two in-form players and the importance of Champions League to Morgan Rogers’ future
10:56, 07 Apr 2026
Unai Emery, manager of Aston Villa(Image: Getty Images)
Eighteen days after Aston Villa’s win against West Ham, they return to action in Italy on Thursday.
Unai Emery’s side have an exciting final two months of the campaign ahead as they go for Europa League glory and a top five finish in the Premier League, with either seeing the club return to the Champions League next season.
Villa are set to play seven games in the space of 16 days, of course in less time than the break lasted, with a fixture-free March international break, and due to the club not being in the FA Cup quarter-finals.
Bologna boss: We are the underdogs
Unlike Villa, Bologna did play at the weekend, and earned a 2-1 win at relegation-threatened Serie A side Cremonese.
Bologna oversaw a run of five wins in a row between mid-February and the start of March, but have only won two of their last six across all competitions.
Interestingly, before their five-match winning run, Bologna won only two of 15 matches, losing nine of them in that period.
The Italian club’s home and away form is contrasting, but not perhaps as you might think, with their recent results at the Renato Dall’Ara Stadium quite poor.
Winning two of their last five at home isn’t a bad record by any means, but it’s actually just a couple of wins in 14, since December 14 on home turf, losing half of those games.
On the road, Bologna have won six of their last seven matches in all competitions, an excellent record which also includes an extra-time victory against Roma.
Manager Italiano was quick to play down his side’s chances of progressing past Villa shortly after knocking Roma out of the Europa League in the round of 16 stage.
“We have already faced Aston Villa on their turf twice, so we go in again knowing that we are the underdogs, but we’ll prepare something and try to do something else extraordinary,” Italiano told Sky Sport Italia.
“The match [against Roma] was wonderful. We are truly happy to come here and do what we did, which was climb the mountain. I can only congratulate the lads for an extraordinary performance, as winning in this atmosphere against this Roma side was a genuine achievement.”
Villa without Sancho and Barkley
Villa will be without two of their form players for Thursday’s match, with Jadon Sancho set to miss two to three weeks of action with a shoulder injury suffered in the friendly against Elche.
The winger could be replaced on the right by John McGinn on Thursday, but that will leave a space in the number 10 role.
Youri Tielemans can operate closer to Ollie Watkins, also adding control to the team with a double pivot behind him.
Ross Barkley, however, won’t form part of the midfield as he was not included in Villa’s European squad this season, only briefly coming in to replace Tyrone Mings due to injury in the league phase.
Barkley impressed against Manchester United at Old Trafford, scoring Villa’s goal, before then also playing well in the win against West Ham last time out.
Emery needs Rogers at his best
In the final two months of the campaign, Villa need Morgan Rogers at his brilliant best.
He’ll be in the conversation for Villa’s player of the season, after making some key contributions, especially in the middle third of the season, but is in something of a goal drought of late.
He hasn’t scored in the last nine Villa games, bagging twice in his last 15 across all competitions.
Rogers has the stardust which can propel Villa to achieving their goals, and also the versatility to fit in with Emery’s structure across several roles – that’s important for the boss.
Former Villa captain James Chester recently spoke highly of the 23-year-old, and insisted that qualification for the Champions League would see the playmaker remain in the squad this summer.
“What can I say about what Morgan’s done since he’s come to Villa? He’s a player that I love watching,” he told Fruity King.
“It’s how he approaches the game, how he plays the game, how well he’s adapted going into the Premier League and playing for such a huge club like Aston Villa and the expectation that brings.
“I think Aston Villa securing Champions League football would be huge for them as a football club but also a real driver for Morgan to stay at the football club and continue to play there at the highest level that it is possible to play at in club football.
“I think if that was to happen, I don’t think there’d be any need or reason or questions for Morgan to leave the football club at this stage.”
Claret & Blue catch-up
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