Villa advances in Europa
Aston Villa took a 3-1 first‑leg lead into the second leg against Bologna after Ollie Watkins scored twice in Italy, and in Birmingham Morgan Rogers and Watkins put Villa ahead in the return leg. (Outlook India: first‑leg recap and live second‑leg updates; Sports Illustrated noted some ties were level entering Thursday) ( ).
Aston Villa reached the Europa League semi-finals on Thursday with a 4-0 home win over Bologna and a 7-1 aggregate victory. (uefa.com) Ollie Watkins opened the scoring at Villa Park, Emiliano Buendía added the second, Morgan Rogers made it 3-0 before halftime, and Ezri Konsa scored again late. ESPN’s match report said Villa were 3-0 up by the 39th minute. (espn.com) The result finished a quarter-final that had tilted in Birmingham after Villa won the first leg 3-1 in Italy on April 10. Watkins scored twice in Bologna in that opener, after Konsa’s first-half goal had put Unai Emery’s side ahead. (uefa.com) Villa’s reward is an all-English semi-final against Nottingham Forest. UEFA’s fixture list says the Europa League final is scheduled for May 20, 2026, in Istanbul. (uefa.com) The run keeps Emery in a competition he has made his own. ESPN noted that the Villa manager has won this tournament four times, and the club are now into a second European semi-final in three seasons. (espn.com) For Bologna, the tie ended a first Europa League quarter-final with a heavy aggregate defeat. Outlook India’s live report said Villa sealed the semi-final place with a 4-0 second-leg win at Villa Park. (outlookindia.com) Watkins had already set the tone for the matchup a week earlier, and his opener in Birmingham removed any remaining doubt. Villa started the night with a two-goal cushion and ended it with their biggest win of the tie. (apnews.com, uefa.com)
