Aston Villa news: Opinion – Bologna tie is ‘opening act of a mini-season that will define Villa’s immediate future’
Eighteen days have passed since Aston Villa’s 2-0 win over West Ham. The international break arrived at exactly the right moment, with momentum restored, a top-four lead rebuilt and returning key players given extra time to recover.
Now comes the part that actually matters.
Thursday’s Europa League quarter-final first leg against Bologna at Villa Park is not simply a European tie. It is the opening act of a seven-game league mini-season that will define the club’s immediate future.
Villa hold a five-point lead over Liverpool and six over Chelsea in the race for Champions League football, with one of those three most likely to miss out. The Easter transfer stories linking Morgan Rogers and Amadou Onana to moves away were not coincidental. They were a reminder of what the club stands to lose if they do not get this right, regardless of where the Uefa financial regulations conversation leads next.
As the club’s recent accounts proved, last season’s Champions League participation was transformative for the club and they need to return pronto.
The Bologna fixture itself carries its own precedent. In September, a 1-0 win over the same opponents in the league stage of the Europa League kickstarted a season that had stalled badly after a goalless opening run. Villa will be hoping history repeats.
Bologna arrive in uncertain form. Sitting eighth in Serie A, nine points off European qualification, their resurgence over the past two seasons in Serie A has cooled.
Bologna remain dangerous, though. Their win over Roma in the previous round and their third-best Serie A form over the past six games confirm that. But they have won just one of their past six home games, which may be the most important statistic in terms of Villa travelling there for the away leg this week.
Beating Bologna kickstarted Villa’s season once already. On Thursday, Unai Emery will be hoping a repeat can do it again for the final run-in.
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