Villa's Italian links

Fixtures Bologna Vs. Aston Villa - Thu, Apr 9th 2026, 20:00 Aston Villa will take on Bologna over two legs for a place in the Semi-Finals of the UEFA Europa League this month. First, on Thursday (April 9), the Villans travel to Italy for the first leg of their Quarter-Final clash with Vincenzo Italiano’s side at Stadio Renato Dall’Ara (ko 8pm BST). Then, a week later, Unai Emery’s men will host the Serie A outfit at Villa Park for the third successive season, action in the second leg on Thursday, April 16 getting underway at 8pm, with tickets still available. And, with history between the club and Italy dating back to the 1980s, this two-legged tie will again see Villa required to overcome I Rossoblù in order to continue their European journey this season. From Roberto Di Matteo to Inter Milan, here are Aston Villa’s Italian links… Players A total of four Italians have pulled on claret and blue in history. The first, Fabio Ferraresi, arrived in B6 as a youngster in 1998 after time in the Cesena academy. The midfielder would make just one competitive appearance for the club, in the UEFA Cup, before leaving six months later. Six months after Ferraresi’s departure, another Italian arrived at Villa Park, as Benito Carbone signed from Sheffield Wednesday. His sole season at the club saw the tricky forward net four goals in 24 Premier League appearances, while also contributing a further five in Villa’s run to the FA Cup Final, including a stunning hat-trick in a thrilling 3-2 win over Leeds United in round five. Pierluigi Gollini was the next Italian to represent Villa, arriving from Hellas Verona ahead of the 2016/17 Championship season. The goalkeeper made 20 appearances for the Villans and, after two separate spells at Atalanta, joined the Bergamo outfit on a permanent basis in the summer of 2018. Now 31, Gollini plays for AS Roma, and has one cap for Italy. And, most recently, Nicolò Zaniolo spent the 2023/24 season on loan at Villa Park, netting three goals in 39 appearances. The striker joined from Galatasaray after a five-year spell at Roma. With two goals in 19 appearances for Italy, Zaniolo is still signed to the Turkish outfit, though is spending this season on loan at Udinese. Managers Just one Italian has held the manager’s position at Villa Park: Roberto Di Matteo. The former Chelsea midfielder, whose solitary strike had defeated Villa at Wembley in the 2000 FA Cup Final, entered the dugout in the summer of 2016, fresh from Villa’s relegation to the Championship. His tenure would last just four months. After an underwhelming start to the season, which saw the Villans win just one of their opening 12 games of the season, the former Schalke 04 boss was replaced by Steve Bruce. Bologna Up until October 2024, the Villans had never faced Bologna in the history of the two clubs. By the time April 2026 has drawn to a close, the two sides will have locked horns four times. The first meeting came in the league phase of last season’s Champions League campaign where, having won their opening two games, Villa welcomed I Rossoblù to B6 on Matchday Three. It took Emery’s charges a while to break down their Italian visitors, but 10 minutes into the second half, captain John McGinn’s free-kick found the far corner, before Jhon Durán turned home from close range nine minutes later to tie up a 2-0 win. Less than a year later, the teams would meet at Villa Park once again, in the opening round of this season’s Europa League league phase. McGinn was again Villa’s hero, helping them secure their first win of the campaign when firing home from the edge of the box 13 minutes in, sealing a 1-0 triumph. The two clubs are also connected by Italian goalkeeping great Gianluca Pagliuca, who currently serves as a ‘keeper coach in Bologna’s academy. The 59-year-old, who made over 800 club appearances for I Rossoblù, Ascoli, Sampdoria and Inter Milan, also has 39 caps for Italy to his name, and represented the Azzuri in three World Cups. A huge passion of his, however, despite having never played for the club, is Aston Villa. Pagliuca lived out a dream when playing at Villa Park while representing Inter in 1994, and even has a Villa tattoo on his arm. Trips to Italy Villa’s record when facing sides on Italian soil isn’t the greatest – having lost on all three of their trips to Italy. Their first came in the Quarter-Finals of the 1982/83 European Cup. Having began their defence of the trophy with wins over Beşiktaş and Dinamo București, the Villans took on a star-studded Juventus team, losing out 2-1 at home in the first leg. And things did not get much better two weeks later at Stadio Comunale Vittorio Pozzo. Goals from Michel Platini (2) and Marco Tardelli sent the hosts into a 5-1 aggregate lead and, despite Peter Withe reducing the arrears, Villa bowed out to the eventual runners up. The next two trips to Italy would both be to the San Siro to take on Inter Milan in the UEFA Cup. First, in the second round in 1990, Villa took a 2-0 lead into the second leg, but saw it dramatically overturned as Jürgen Klinsmann, Nicola Berti and Alessandro Bianchi completed a 3-2 aggregate success. Then, four years later, in the opening round of the 1994/95 competition, Dennis Bergkamp’s late penalty sealed a 1-0 first-leg win for the Serie A outfit, though Ron Atkinson’s side would have the last laugh at Villa Park… Visits of Italian sides A fortnight after losing 1-0 in Milan, the Villans welcomed Inter back to B6 for the second leg, where Ray Houghton’s first-half strike sealed a 1-0 win on the night to take the tie to extra-time and penalties. With iconic Italian penalty specialist and Villa fan Pagliuca between the sticks, Inter were dumped out of the competition as the hosts triumphed 4-3 in the shoot-out, Phil King converting the decisive kick from the spot on an unforgettable evening at Villa Park. That was the third time the Villans had hosted an Italian outfit, and again came four years after the UEFA Cup second round first leg clash at Villa Park. Goals in each half from Kent Nielsen and David Platt capped off a fantastic Villa display and sealed a 2-0 win, though the tie would ultimately end in disappointment as Inter overturned the deficit in Italy. Seven years prior, reigning European Cup champions Villa had met Juve in the last eight of the following season’s competition, going behind inside 40 seconds at Villa Park thanks to Paulo Rossi’s goal. Gordon Cowans did equalise eight minutes into the second half, but Zbigniew Boniek’s late goal sealed a 2-1 first leg win for the Italian giants, who triumphed 5-2 on aggregate after a 3-1 win in Turin two weeks later. The Villans would meet The Old Lady again for the second time in history last season, in the league phase of the Champions League, where a goalless draw was played out on Matchday Five to ensure that, along with the two home wins over Bologna in the last two seasons, Villa’s record against Italian sides at Villa Park stands at an impressive four wins and a draw from six meetings. Aston Villa v Bologna UEL QF Second Leg Buy Tickets