Italiano: ‘Bologna paid for mistakes and Aston Villa will win Europa League’

Italiano: ‘Bologna paid for mistakes and Aston Villa will win Europa League’ Vincenzo Italiano is frustrated by the same old Bologna mistakes in a 3-1 defeat to Aston Villa , but insists their opponents ‘will win the Europa League, as they made the most of everything. ’ It was a disappointing night at the Stadio Dall’Ara, but above all an unlucky one that showed many of the same problems we’ve seen all season from the Rossoblu. They were wasteful in attack as well as being unfortunate, hitting the woodwork twice and seeing a Santiago Castro goal disallowed because his toe was offside.

BOLOGNA, ITALY – APRIL 09: Jonathan Rowe of Bologna is challenged by Amadou Onana and Ezri Konsa 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) In comparison, Aston Villa were clinical and made the most of defensive errors, first with Ezri Konsa as Federico Ravaglia flapped at a corner, then Ollie Watkins after the usual mistake playing out from the back. Jonathan Rowe did pull one back to give hope going into the second leg, which was immediately snatched away again when Watkins was left unmarked on a corner in stoppages.

Italiano frustrated by Bologna errors BOLOGNA, ITALY – APRIL 09: Vincenzo Italiano, Head Coach of Bologna, talks with Federico Bernardeschi of Bologna 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) “We were in the game from start to finish, we saw what we expected from them, but if you make certain mistakes against them, you will be punished,” Italiano told Sky Sport Italia. “If you gift two or three goals, you are going to inevitably struggle, both on the night and in the tie.

Now we’ll see what happens in the second leg, but the performance was strong, we caused problems for a team of a truly high value. “I think tonight we saw confirmation of what I thought beforehand, which is that Aston Villa will win the Europa League. Congratulations to them, because they made the most of absolutely everything we let slip, despite a good performance from Bologna.