Villa smash Bologna for a trip to the Europa League's semi-final

Another familiar trophy is in sights. Unai Emery is the already proven master of the Europa League as the Spanish manager won the competition four times (three with Sevilla in 2014, 2015 and 2016, and another with Villarreal in 2021). He also reached the final with Arsenal in 2019 and as of tonight, he is only 180 minutes away from another final, this time with Aston Villa. It was one of the easiest quarter-finals in his career, as his team ran over Bologna, winning tonight 4-0 and 7-1 on aggregate. Everything was essentially over in Italy where the Villains won 3-1 and Bologna certainly isn’t a team which could muster a big comeback in England. What is worst, they tried but couldn’t even score a goal, yet alone two, without conceding any.

Everything was finished in the first half, as Villa scored three goals and the first one came after only 15 minutes. It was a beautiful combination between Rogers, Buendia and Watkins, who was there for a simple tap in. Villa should have doubled the lead in the 22nd minute, when the ball hit Vitik in the penalty area and VAR signalized for a penalty kick. But, Bologna’s keeper Ravaglia made a great save and denied Rogers, which gave the visitors some kind of boost. But it didn’t last long as it was Ravagila, of all people, was guilty of the next two goals, when the ball went into his closer side on both occasions, and he missed the opportunity to save them.

With both Buendia and Rogers as scorers, Villa went completely flat in the second half. Unai Emery didn’t push his players and instead made all possible substitutions in order to rest his first-team footballers and Villa made their first overall shot towards Bologna’s goal in the 80th minute. The final score was the work of Konsa, who buried the volley into the bottom corner while on the turn to finish Villa’s excellent night. Unai Emery’s men now have some breathing space as they need to keep winning in the Premier League in order to secure the Champions League spot for next season.

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE - QUARTER-FINALS

Return leg

Thursday

Celta Vigo - Freiburg 1-3 (0-2)

/Swedberg 90+1 - Matanovic 33, Suzuki 50, 39/

Frieburg win 6-1 on aggregate

Aston Villa - Bologna 4-0 (3-0)

/Watkins 16, Buendia 26, Rogers 39, Konsa 89/

Aston Villa win 7-1 on aggregate

Real Betis - Braga 2-4 (2-1)

/Antony 13, Ezzalzouli 26 - Victor 36, Carvalho 49, Horta 53(p), Gorbi 74/

Braga win 4-3 on aggregate

Nottingham Forest - Porto 1-0 (1-0)

/Gibbs-White 12/

Nottingham Forest win 2-1 on aggregate