[Pre-Match Thread] Aston Villa vs. Bologna (Europa League – Quarter-finals)

Aston Villa vs. Bologna

(Agg 3-1)

Competition: Europa League – Quarter-finals

Date: Thu 16 Apr 2026

Kickoff: 20:00

Venue: Villa Park

Referee: Jose Sanchez

Aston Villa Statistics (all competitions)

Form: LWWWD

Goals per match: 1.4

Average Possession: 54.1%

Goals conceded per match: 1.3

Pass Accuracy: 85.7%

Shots per game: 12.5

Tackles per game: 15.1

Clean Sheets: 15

Bologna Statistics (all competitions)

Form: WLWLW

Goals per match: 1.3

Average Possession: 55.7%

Goals conceded per match: 1.2

Pass Accuracy: 82.7%

Shots per game: 14.9

Tackles per game: 14.9

Clean Sheets: 14

Aston Villa Team News

• Emi Martínez and Jadon Sancho will be assessed prior to Aston Villa’s UEFA Europa League quarter-final second leg against Bologna.

• Martínez, whose impressive saves contributed to last week’s 3-1 first-leg victory in Italy, missed Sunday’s Premier League draw at Nottingham Forest having withdrawn in the warm-up.

• Sancho was ruled out of both matches after sustaining injury during Villa’s March trip to Spain in the international break.

• But the pair, along with Tyrone Mings, have returned to training ahead of the European encounter at Villa Park, and will face late checks before being available to face the Rossoblu.

• Ross Barkley and Alysson are unavailable having not been included in the club’s Europa League squad list, while Boubacar Kamara remains a long-term absentee.

Bologna Team News

• Bologna can recall Martin Vitik – who missed the first leg through suspension – but fellow defender Jhon Lucumi will be banned on Thursday evening.

• Both Charalampos Lykogiannis and Thijs Dallinga face fitness tests, while Benjamin Dominguez and first-choice goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski are still sidelined.

Match Facts

• Aston Villa’ have kept five consecutive home clean sheets against Italian clubs in major European competition – the last player to score at Villa Park for an Italian team was Zbigniew Boniek in a 2-1 Juventus win in the European Cup in March 1983.

• Since beating West Brom 3-1 at the Hawthorns in March 1967, Bologna have lost thier away visits to England in all European competitions.

• Villa have won 15 of their last 17 home European matches, winning their last eight in a row. They've won five of their last six in the knockout stages at Villa Park, losing 4-2 to Olympiakos in the other in May 2024 in the Conference League.

• Since losing 1-0 at Aston Villa in September this season, Bologna have won all five of their away matches in the UEFA Europa League. In the history of the UEFA Cup/ Europa League, only Hamburger SV in 2008-09 and FC Porto in 2010-11 have ever won six away games in a single season.

• Aston Villa have won 10 of their first 11 UEFA Europa League games this season (L1), with Chelsea in 2018-19 and Villarreal in 2020-21 the only teams to match that feat in a campaign, both of whom went on to win the tournament in those respective editions.

• Bologna lost 3-1 in the first leg against Aston Villa, the second UEFA Europa League in a row that they have conceded three goals – only one of the 67 teams to lose the first leg of a two-legged knockout tie in the competition by 2+ goals at home have gone on to progress, with Sevilla overcoming Real Betis in the 2013-14 round of 16 (0-2 home, 2-0 away, 4-3 on penalties).

• Ollie Watkins has scored nine goals in major European competition for Aston Villa and could be the first player to reach 10 goals for the club (John McGinn and Peter Withe also 9); he could also be the second Villan to net in three consecutive European starts after John McGinn (a run of 4 between April 2025 and March 2026)

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