Aston Villa begin their Europa League campaign on Thursday night, hosting Italian outfit Bologna at Villa Park.
A 6th-placed finish in the Premier League last campaign ensured Aston Villa would return to the Europa League for the first time since 2008/09.
Villa narrowly missed out on a Champions League spot on the final day of last season, having suffered a 2-0 defeat against Man United at Old Trafford. Newcastle claimed the final UCL spot, finishing fifth on goal difference.
Unai Emery’s side are no strangers to European football, as a third-consecutive European journey awaits the Villans.
Aston Villa have had a difficult start to the 2025/26 Premier League season, playing five matches and failing to pick up a single win in any of those encounters, whilst only managing to find the net once.
Losses against Brentford and Crystal Palace, whilst picking up draws against Newcastle, Everton and Sunderland, mean Villa are still in search of their first three points.
Villa were also knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Brentford in the third round after losing 5-4 in a penalty shootout. The game had finished 1-1 after 90 minutes, with Harvey Elliott netting the only goal.
Last time out
Villa were made to settle for a point against 10-man Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on Sunday afternoon.
Poland international Matty Cash rifled a superb long-distance strike beyond Sunderland goalkeeper Robin Roefs to end Villa’s goal drought, before Wilson Isidor’s 75th-minute effort rescued a point for Sunderland.
An insight into Bologna
Villa’s opponents, Bologna will feature in the Europa League for the first time in twenty five years.
Manager Vincenzo Italiano guided Bologna to a first major trophy in 51 years last season, as they enjoyed silverware success, defeating Italian giants AC Milan 1-0 in the Coppa Italia final.
Dan Ndoye’s decisive goal earned Bologna a place in this season’s Europa League.
This will be the second consecutive season that Bologna are involved in a European competition, they featured in the UEFA Champions League last time around.
The Serie A side were unable to make it out of the league phase after finishing 28th out of 36 teams. Their only victory came against Borussia Dortmund.
Bologna’s start to the 2025/26 Serie A campaign has seen them experience mixed fortunes. Vincenzo Italiano’s team have played four matches, winning two and losing two.
Both of Bologna’s victories have come at home — a 1-0 win over Como, while defeating Genoa 2-1 most recently. Their two defeats have come in away matches against Roma and AC Milan.
Last time out
Bologna secured a dramatic victory over Genoa on Saturday. Bologna were awarded a spot-kick in the 99th minute of the game, with the match finely poised at 1-1.
Genoa winger Valentín Carboni was penalised for a handball after a VAR check. Bologna attacker Ricardo Orsolini would then make no mistake from 12 yards out to give Bologna all three points.
Previous meetings
The last meeting between these sides was as recent as last season. October 2024 saw Villa welcome Bologna to Villa Park in the league phase of the Champions League. Goals from John McGinn and Jhon Durán secured a 2-0 win for Villa that night.
Team news
Jadon Sancho and Harvey Elliott will be eager to make their first appearances in the Europa League for Aston Villa.
Andres Garcia and Ross Barkley were involved in full training on Wednesday, while Belgian internationals Youri Tielemans and Amadou Onana remain doubtful for this one.
Nicolò Casale, Tommaso Pobega, Ibrahim Sulemana and Ciro Immobile are all set to miss Thursday’s Europa League opener, having been unavailable for Bologna’s last game.
Right-back Lorenzo De Silvestri won’t feature, as he was left out of Bologna’s Europa League squad.
