UEL | Bologna 1-3 Aston Villa: Unlucky Rossoblu crumble in quarter final
UEL | Bologna 1-3 Aston Villa: Unlucky Rossoblu crumble in quarter final Bologna were unlucky in attack and paid a heavy price for defensive errors, suffering a 3-1 home defeat to Aston Villa in the Europa League quarter-final. The Rossoblu eliminated Roma in the all-Italian derby and went into this match without suspended Martin Vitik, plus injured Lukasz Skorupski, Thijs Dallinga, Charalampos Lykogiannis and Benjamin Dominguez. Unai Emery won the Europa League four times as coach and made this trip without Jadon Sancho and Boubacar Kamara, so Youri Tielemans got his first start since January 25.
Villa had won every game except one in the competition and already beat Bologna 1-0 in September , but that was the last Rossoblu defeat in this tournament. See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog. BOLOGNA, ITALY – APRIL 09: The teams line up prior to the UEFA Europa League 2025/26 Quarter-Final Leg One match between Bologna FC 1909 and Aston Villa FC at Stadio Renato Dall’Ara on April 09, 2026 in Bologna, Italy.
(Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images) Ollie Watkins didn’t get full control of a smart Youri Tielemans ball over the top, while Jhon Lucumi was booked early on and will be suspended for the second leg. Bologna had a big double chance when first the Santiago Castro angled drive was charged down by Pau Torres, then Emiliano Martinez fingertipped the acrobatic Juan Miranda follow-up out from under the bar. BOLOGNA, ITALY – APRIL 09: Santiago Castro of Bologna has a shot blocked by Pau Torres of Aston Villa during the UEFA Europa League 2025/26 Quarter-Final Leg One match between Bologna FC 1909 and Aston Villa FC at Stadio Renato Dall’Ara on April 09, 2026 in Bologna, Italy.
(Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images) The hosts had the ball in the net on 26 minutes when Castro’s effort took a deflection off Ezri Konsa and was cleared by Matty Cash only after already crossing the line. However, it was disallowed by VAR as Castro’s toe was offside on the Jonathan Rowe pass. Bologna were unlucky again moments later, this time Lewis Ferguson at full stretch poked a Rowe cross onto the underside of the crossbar.
John McGinn drilled inches wide, and Aston Villa took the lead against the run of play just before half-time. Federico Ravaglia flapped at a Youri Tielemans corner, as Konsa held off Lucumi to nod in at the back post. Straight after the restart, Rowe ran from his own half and pulled back for Tommaso Pobega to fire just over from the edge of the area.