Champions League | League Stage

Oct 22, 2024 at 8pm UK

Villa Park

Aston Villa vs Bologna

Match preview

Aston Villa did it again! They beat Bayern Munich in their first Champions League home game, just like they did in 1982 when they were crowned European champions. Their defensive performance was solid, and their reliable super-sub made a great play to win the game.

When Bayern's veteran goalkeeper Manuel Neuer strayed off his line, Pau Torres made a great pass to Jhon Duran, who scored the winning goal. This was the second match, and Villa is now on maximum points.

Unai Emery's team had already beaten Young Boys 3-0 in Switzerland. If they win this week, Villa's Basque boss will have won 25 times in the Champions League. That would make him only the fifth Spanish manager to achieve that feat, after Pep Guardiola, Rafa Benitez, Vicente del Bosque and Luis Enrique.

On top of that, the Villans could become only the third team to win their opening three games in UEFA's top club tournament without conceding. They'd be following in the footsteps of Malaga in 2012 and Leicester City four years later.

Of course, such statistics won't matter much to Emery, who has managed to prove the doubters wrong by keeping his side in the top six of the Premier League.

After going behind to an early goal against Fulham, Villa fought back and were helped by goals from Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers, plus a penalty save from Emi Martinez. This helped the second-city club extend their unbeaten streak to nine games on Saturday.

In fact, they've got a 17-point tally from eight league matches, which is their best start to a top-flight season since 1998. It's all set up nicely for a first-ever meeting with fellow Champions League debutants Bologna.

While the visitors have only suffered one loss since the end of August – at the hands of Premier League leaders Liverpool – there may be a very different mood in Bologna's camp ahead of their latest midweek trip to England.

After a summer of change, the Rossoblu are in 13th place in the Serie A standings. Their new coach, Vincenzo Italiano, has won just one of 10 matches so far, including a disappointing draw with Genoa last time out.

Despite goals from Riccardo Orsolini and Jens Odgaard putting them in control at Stadio Luigi Ferraris on Saturday evening, they let two points slip during the final 20 minutes and were forced to settle for a single point.

That was the seventh time this season that the Emilian club has ended up sharing the spoils. In fact, it's been a similar story all year long. Only Italian counterparts Juventus have drawn more games in 2024 across Europe's top five leagues.

They started their long-awaited return to Europe's top table with a goalless draw against Shakhtar Donetsk. They could now become the first side not to score in any of their first three Champions League fixtures since Austria Vienna did so in 2013.

So, if they can even get a goal and a point back in Emilia-Romagna on Tuesday night, it'll be a success for Italiano and his team.

Recent Performance

Aston Villa Champions League form:WW

Aston Villa form (all competitions):WWDWDW

Bologna Champions League form:DL

Bologna form (all competitions):DWDLDD

Injuries and suspensions

Aston Villa

5 Tyrone Mings

30 Kortney Hause

24 Amadou Onana

44 Boubacar Kamara

Bologna

5 Martin Erlić

17 Oussama El Azzouzi

20 Michel Aebischer

19 Lewis Ferguson

14 Samuel Iling-Junior

11 Dan Ndoye

28 Nicolò Cambiaghi

Possible starting lineups

Aston Villa possible starting lineup:

Martinez; Konsa, Carlos, Torres, Digne; Onana, Tielemans; McGinn, Rogers, Ramsey; Watkins

Bologna possible starting lineup:

Skorupski; Posch, Beukema, Lucumi, Miranda; Freuler, Moro; Orsolini, Fabbian, Karlsson; Castro