Europa League quarter-final second leg: Aston Villa vs Bologna facts
Friday, April 10, 2026
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Aston Villa hold the advantage for their UEFA Europa League quarter-final second leg as they welcome Bologna to Birmingham holding a 3-1 lead.
A second-half double from Ollie Watkins (51 90+4) helped Villa to a 3-1 victory in Italy on 9 April. Ezri Konsa (44) had given the visitors the lead at the Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, Jonathan Rowe (90) pulling one back for Bologna before Watkins' second goal of the game.
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.
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.
Last match
This is the fourth meeting between the teams, with Villa having been victorious on each occasion. The English club were 1-0 winners on Matchday 1 of the league phase, John McGinn's 13th-minute strike earning a 1-0 home win at Villa Park, 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.
Villa lost four of their first five matches against Italian teams (W1), but are unbeaten in the five subsequent fixtures (W4 D1). A 1-2 loss to Juventus in the first leg of a 1982/83 European Cup Winners' Cup quarter-final tie is their only home defeat against an Italian team; they have since won four out of five at Villa Park (D1), keeping a clean sheet in all five.
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 are winless in their six encounters with English clubs (D1 L5), losing the last five. All four of their trips to England have ended in defeat, with one goal scored and eight conceded.
I Rossoblù's only previous two‑legged European tie against an English club was a 5-3 aggregate defeat by Fulham in a 2002 Intertoto Cup final (2-2 h, 1-3 a).
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).
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 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).
Key stats
Villa have won 14 of their last 16 European matches (L2) including eight in a row — the longest victorious sequence in the club's history.
The English club have won 16 of their last 18 home European games (D1 L1), including the last eight.
Villa have won seven of the eight European ties in which they took a two‑goal lead from the first leg, the exception against Inter in the 1990/91 UEFA Cup second round (2-0 h, 0-3 a). They have won all three ties in which they established a two‑goal advantage in the away first leg.
The first-leg loss at home to Villa ended Bologna's 11-match unbeaten European run (W7 D4), their longest run without defeat in UEFA competition.
Bologna's only two defeats in their last 16 European games (W8 D6) have both been inflicted by Villa.
The Italian side have won their last five away Europa League matches.
Bologna have won 13 of their last 16 two-legged European ties.
This is the first time Bologna have gone into an away second leg in UEFA competition behind in the tie.
Bologna have won both European ties in which they trailed by two goals or more after the first leg — both in the 1990/91 UEFA Cup, against Heart of Midlothian in the second round (1-3 a, 3-0 h) and Admira Wacker in the third round (0-3 a, 3-0 h aet, 6-5 pens).