Aston Villa vs Bologna

Aston Villa have won their opening game of a major European campaign in successive seasons for only the second time in their history (3-0 win at Young Boys in last season’s UEFA Champions League), after 1981-82 and 1982-83 in the European Cup.

Bologna are winless in their last seven away games in major European competition (D2 L5), while since their return to major European competition in 2024-25, they’ve failed to score in four of their five matches on the road.

Aston Villa are now enjoying their second-longest unbeaten run at Villa Park in major European competition (7 games – W6 D1), behind only their 8-game run in the UEFA Cup between September 1994 and September 1998 (W7 D1).

This is the second consecutive season to see Aston Villa face Bologna in European competition – the Villans won 2-0 in last season’s UEFA Champions League at Villa Park.

Bologna are winless in their last five European games against English opponents (D1 L4) since a 1-0 win over Leeds United in March 1967 in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.

Aston Villa reached the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals last season before being eliminated by eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain. They netted 23 goals in 2024-25, their most ever in a major European campaign.

Bologna were eliminated in last season’s UEFA Champions League group phase, but they are featuring in major European competition in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1998-99 and 1999-00 in the UEFA Cup.

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery holds the record for the most games managed (93), most wins (56) and most titles won (4) in UEFA Europa League history (excluding a 3-0 Villarreal win v Qarabag in December 2020 that was postponed due to Covid-19). He has reached the final in each of the last five full campaigns in the competition (excluding 2019-20 when he was sacked by Arsenal).