Bologna vs Aston Villa Preview & Prediction | 2025-26 UEFA Europa League | Quarter-Final

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These two faced off against each other in the league phase as Bologna now welcome Aston Villa to the Renato Dall'Ara in the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals.

Kick-off date/time: 9 April 2026 at 8:00 pm

How to watch on TV: UK – TNT Sports / USA – Not televised

How to watch online: UK – HBO Max / USA – Paramount+

Key stats

• Aston Villa have won both previous UEFA meetings between the sides, with both matches played in Birmingham: 2–0 in the 2024/25 Champions League league phase and 1–0 on Matchday 1 of this season’s Europa League.
• Bologna are winless in their five previous UEFA matches against English teams with one draw and four defeats.
• Bologna’s only previous UEFA two‑legged tie against an English club was a 5–3 aggregate defeat to Fulham in the 2002 Intertoto Cup final.
• This is Bologna’s first quarter‑final in the UEFA Europa League era – their debut season in the competition. They previously reached the last eight twice in the UEFA Cup, losing 3-1 on aggregate to Sporting CP in 1990/91 and beating Lyon 3-2 on aggregate in 1998/99.
• Bologna are unbeaten in their last 11 UEFA Europa League games (W7 D4), the longest undefeated run in the club’s history in UEFA competition. Their last defeat was a 1-0 loss away to Aston Villa on Matchday 1 of the current campaign.
• Bologna have won 13 of their last 16 UEFA two-legged ties.
• Bologna have lost the first leg in only one of their last 17 UEFA two-legged ties (W11 D5).
• Bologna have lost only two of their previous 33 UEFA competition home matches (W19 D12).
• Aston Villa are unbeaten in their last four UEFA matches against Italian opposition (W3 D1), all played on home soil; each was achieved without conceding a goal.
• Aston Villa have lost all their three previous UEFA away matches against Italian clubs.
• Aston Villa have won one and lost two of their three UEFA two‑legged ties against Italian clubs, with their sole victory coming most recently — a penalty shoot‑out win over Inter in the 1994/95 UEFA Cup first round.
• This is Aston Villa’s first quarter‑final in the UEFA Europa League era. They previously reached the last eight twice in the UEFA Cup, losing 4-3 on aggregate to Barcelona in 1977/78 and going out on away goals against Atlético Madrid in 1997/98.
• Aston Villa have reached a UEFA quarter‑final for the third consecutive season — each time in a different competition. They beat Lille on penalties in the 2023/24 UEFA Europa Conference League and lost 5-4 on aggregate to Paris in last season’s UEFA Champions League quarter‑finals.
• Aston Villa have won 13 of their last 15 UEFA competition matches (L2), including each of their most recent seven — the longest winning streak in the club’s UEFA history.

Bologna vs Aston Villa prediction

Bologna come into this one on the back of a hard-fought 2-1 defeat of a struggling Cremonese side in their most recent outing. That means that the previously underperforming Italians have now lost just two of their last 11 matches across all competitions. 

They now face an Aston Villa side that, with four-time UEL winner Unai Emery at the helm, should go deep into this competition. The Villans got their first win of the season after a difficult start with a comfortable 2-0 defeat of Bologna at Villa Park back in late-September. 

Villa will be expected to go to Italy with a safety first approach, seeking to ensure the game is in their hands when they come back to Birmingham for the second-leg next week.

Bologna vs Aston Villa tip: Aston Villa to win & under 3.5 goals