Italiano: ‘Bologna paid for mistakes and Aston Villa will win Europa League’

Bologna, 9 April 2026 – Vincenzo Italiano cut a familiarly frustrated figure after watching his side gift Aston Villa a 3-1 quarter-final first-leg advantage, but the Rossoblu coach was unequivocal in his praise of the visitors, declaring that Unai Emery’s men “will win the Europa League.”

Speaking to Sky Sport Italia beneath the fading lights of Stadio Renato Dall’Ara, Italiano admitted that the tie had been defined by the same lapses that have dogged Bologna all season. “We were in the game from start to finish, we saw what we expected from them, but if you make certain mistakes against them, you will be punished,” he said. “If you gift two or three goals, you are going to inevitably struggle, both on the night and in the tie.”

Bologna twice struck the frame of the goal and had a Santiago Castro effort ruled out for the tightest of offside calls, yet it was Villa’s ruthless edge that told. Ezri Konsa nodded in after Federico Ravaglia misjudged a corner, Ollie Watkins pounced on a loose pass as Bologna tried to play out, and Watkins headed a third in stoppage time after Jonathan Rowe’s 78th-minute reply had briefly offered hope.

Italiano refused to hide behind misfortune. “Congratulations to them, because they made the most of absolutely everything we let slip, despite a good performance from Bologna,” he said. “Tonight we saw confirmation of what I thought beforehand, which is that Aston Villa will win the Europa League.”

The Italian coach revealed that his pre-match message had centred on Villa’s ability to exploit the slightest error. “Before the match, I told the lads these are situations where you mustn’t be superficial in any situation, whether it’s giving away a corner or a loose pass, because this team will punish you at the slightest error. Unfortunately, that’s what happened.”

He pinpointed the opening goal, originating from a throw-in Rowe should never have taken, as the moment that shifted momentum. “We just can’t seem to have a full game without errors,” Italiano lamented. “We never manage to go a full 90 minutes with total concentration; there is always an error or a distraction.”

With the second leg looming at Villa Park, where Bologna have already lost twice this campaign without scoring, the scale of the task is daunting. “It would be a sporting miracle to turn this around,” Italiano conceded, “but as we saw yesterday with Barcelona losing to Atletico Madrid, anything can happen.”

For now, the focus returns to eradicating the costly lapses that have undermined a season of promise. “We made too many mistakes this season, not just tonight,” he admitted. “Admittedly, 2-1 would’ve been a different result…but we’ll give it our all.”