Fixtures
- Aston Villa Vs. Bologna – Tue, Oct 22nd 2024, 20:00
Aston Villa recorded their third-straight victory in this season’s UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night, triumphing 2-0 over Italian side Bologna.
Unai Emery’s side remain the only team in the competition still with a perfect record after three outings, and still having not conceded a single goal to boot.
We reflect on another memorable evening at Villa Park, with six talking points from the encounter…
Villa Park. Magical.
A first European Cup/Champions League tie back at Villa Park for 41 years against Bayern Munich had set the bar extremely high, but our home again more than played its part in B6.
From ‘Hi Ho Silver Lining’ blaring out before kick-off, complemented by lights and fireworks, to a lions tifo banner in the Holte End and the famous Champions League anthem ringing around Villa Park again (it never gets old), the atmosphere was another to behold.
The two goals raised the roof, but in truth, it was another special evening, right from the very beginning.
It’s true, what they say…
Like many an Italian side we’ve seen over the years, Bologna proved difficult to break down.
Their physicality and defensive organisation, led by Vincenzo Italiano, saw Villa unable to breach a stubborn Rossoblu backline during a first half in which they controlled.
Bodies were on the line in the 34th minute when Youri Tielemans hammered a volley goalwards, and Bologna were succeeding in nullifying and frustrating Villa, until…
We’ve got McGinn!
Championship to Champions League. The Villa skipper, on his first start since returning from injury, popped up just when his side needed him, to break the deadlock shortly before the hour.
Standing over a free-kick to the right of the penalty area, Ginny whipped a menacing ball into the danger area, which evaded everyone, finding its way through a box crammed full of bodies and into the back of the net.
Our super Scotsman wheeled away in delight as the home faithful roared his name, and the Lions had struck first in each of their opening three UEFA Champions League fixtures.
Jhon Durán, you know the rest…
He scores goals. This is normal. Making his first-ever start in the Champions League, JD was kept quiet in the first period, being marked tightly by the aforementioned Bologna rearguard.
But once McGinn had broken through 10 minutes after the restart, it only took the Colombian international a further 10 minutes to notch his seventh goal of the campaign.
Morgan Rogers, again a constant threat throughout, brought the ball down out wide and picked Durán out in the centre, and what happened next, well, that was inevitable.
Welcome back, Bouba
A welcome sight for everyone inside Villa Park, as Boubacar Kamara made his long-awaited return from the bench, playing the final 12 minutes.
It was the Frenchman’s first outing since February, where a cruciate ligament injury kept him sidelined for the remainder of 2023/24.
And, with Tyrone Mings also included in a senior matchday squad for the first time in over a year, there were smiles aplenty inside Villa Park, and for good reason.
More records smashed!
Tuesday marked another historic night in the history of Aston Villa Football Club.
Not only are we the only team in the Champions League group phase to win each of our first three games, we became only the third side since the competition’s rebrand in 1992/93 to triumph in their opening three outings without conceding, after Málaga in 2012/13 and Leicester City in 2016/17.
Victory over Bologna equalled our longest streak of victories in the European Cup/Champions League, last stringing together three-consecutive wins back in 1981, between September and October, on our way to lifting the famous trophy.
Unai Emery also won his 25th Champions League game, becoming only the fifth Spanish manager in history to hit this milestone – after Pep Guardiola, Rafael Benítez, Vicente del Bosque and Luis Enrique. Here’s to you.
