Europa League quarter-final first leg: Bologna vs Aston Villa facts

Bologna and Aston Villa meet for the second time this season in Italy for the first leg of their UEFA Europa League quarter-final.

A dramatic 5-4 aggregate victory over fellow Italian side Roma saw Bologna progress through the round of 16 (1-1 h, 4-3 a aet). They had seen off Brann in the knockout phase play-offs (1-0 a, 1-0 h) after finishing tenth in the league phase on 15 points.

Aston Villa secured a 3-0 aggregate victory against LOSC Lille in the round of 16 (1-0 a, 2-0 h), having won seven of their eight matches in the league phase (L1), finishing second on 21 points.

Last match

The teams met on Matchday 1 of the league phase, John McGinn's 13th-minute strike earning a 1-0 home win at Villa Park, Ollie Watkins having a second-half penalty saved by Łukasz Skorupski.

The sides' only other meeting came during the league phase of last season’s Champions League, also at Villa Park, with McGinn once again on target in a 2-0 victory for the Premier League club.

Bologna are winless in their five encounters with English clubs in UEFA competition (D1 L4), losing the last four. The draw came in their only previous contest at home, 2-2 against Fulham in the 2002 UEFA Intertoto Cup final first leg (3-5 aggregate).

Aston Villa lost four of their first five matches against Italian teams (W1), but are unbeaten in the four subsequent fixtures (W3 D1), all at home and all without conceding. They have, however, lost all three fixtures against Italian teams in Italy, scoring one goal and conceding seven.

Villa have won one and lost two of their three two‑legged ties against Italian clubs, their sole victory coming most recently — a success on penalties against holders Inter in the 1994/95 UEFA Cup first round (0-1 a, 1-0 h, 4-3 pens).

Bologna

Bologna, who made their debut in the Champions League proper last season where they finished 28th in the league phase, are featuring in the UEFA Cup/Europa League for the fifth time in their history.

This is Bologna's first UEFA Europa League quarter‑final in what is their debut season in the competition under its current format. They reached the last eight twice in the UEFA Cup, losing 1-3 on aggregate to Sporting CP in 1990/91 (1-1 h, 0-2 a) and beating Lyon 3-2 in 1998/99 (3-0 h, 0-2 a).

Aston Villa

Quarter-finalists in the Champions League last season, Villa are involved in European competition for a third straight campaign, having reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Conference League in 2023/24.

European Cup winners in 1982, Villa also triumphed in the UEFA Super Cup the same year.

The 2025/26 campaign represents Villa's first participation in the Europa League proper. They reached the quarter-finals twice in the UEFA Cup era, losing to Spanish opposition on both occasions: 3-4 on aggregate to Barcelona in 1977/78 (2-2 h, 1-2 a) and on away goals against Atlético de Madrid in 1997/98 (0-1 a, 2-1 h).

Key stats

Bologna are unbeaten in 11 Europa League games (W7 D4), their longest run without defeat in UEFA competition stretching back to the 1-0 Matchday 1 loss against Villa.

The Italian side have won 13 of their last 16 two-legged European ties and have lost the first leg in only one of their last 17 (W11 D5).

Bologna have lost only two of their previous 33 home European games (W19 D12).

Villa have won 13 of their last 15 European matches (L2) including seven in a row — the longest victorious sequence in the club's history.