Aston Villa vs. Bologna: How have Premier League outfit fared against Italian opposition?

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Ahead of Tuesday's Champions League fixture against Bologna, Sports Mole takes a look at how Aston Villa have fared versus Italian opposition in the past.

Aston Villa return to Champions League action on Tuesday evening when they play host to Bologna at Villa Park.

Unai Emery's side have enjoyed the perfect start to their first-ever campaign in this competition, claiming maximum points from games against Young Boys and Bayern Munich respectively.

Prevailing from that double-header has left Villa in a position where a win over Bologna would already put them on the brink of securing a place in the top 24 of the table, one that would guarantee knockout football from February onwards.

Although Bologna were the surprise package in Italy in 2023-24, they currently sit in 13th position in the Serie A standings having posted six draws from eight games.

Here, Sports Mole takes a look at how Villa have previously fared when facing teams from Italy in competitive fixtures.

1982-93 European Cup quarter-final vs. Juventus

Villa's first-ever continental tie against an Italian opponent had been their last European Cup tie prior to its Champions League reform.

The West Midlands outfit had been defending European champions, beating Besiktas and Dinamo Bucuresti to book a quarter-final showdown with Juventus.

Having won the Serie A title two years in a row and with Michel Platini and Paolo Rossi in attack, Juventus were fancied to end Villa's reign.

Within a minute of the first leg in Birmingham, Rossi had gotten on the scoresheet, helping Juventus to a 2-1 triumph with Zbigniew Boniek netting the winner after Gordan Cowans' earlier equaliser.

Juventus had extended their aggregate advantage to 4-1 by the 27th-minute of the second leg in Turin, eventually emerging victorious 5-2 across the two legs with Peter Withe's late goal proving to be no more than a consolation.

Jurgen Klinsmann playing for Inter Milan against Aston Villa in 1990. © Imago

1990-91 UEFA Cup second round vs. Inter Milan

After a seven-year absence, Villa were back in Europe in 1990-91, initially seeing off Banik Ostrava of the Czech Republic by a 5-2 aggregate scoreline before being drawn against Inter Milan in the UEFA Cup second round.

Villa were having a reunion of sorts with Giovanni Trapattoni, who had been in charge of Juventus, and the English side would ultimately suffer one of their more desperate European exits in their history.

The first leg had suggested a different outcome. Kent Nielsen and David Platt scored in each half to establish a 2-0 lead ahead of the visit to San Siro.

Inter Milan would dramatically turn things around, though, with Jurgen Klinsmann netting a seventh-minute effort to give I Rossoneri a foothold in the game.

Nicola Berti and Alessandro Bianchi completed the turnaround after the break, scoring within 11 second-half minutes to hand Villa an early exit from the competition.

1994-95 UEFA Cup first round vs. Inter Milan

In 1994-95, the two sides would square off again in the first round, a blockbuster tie that suited neither side.

On this occasion, the first leg was at San Siro, a late Dennis Bergkamp penalty putting Inter into the advantage ahead of the reverse fixture.

Ray Houghton restored parity for Villa shortly before the half-time whistle and there would be no further goals, taking the tie to penalties.

A dramatic shootout would ensure, six perfect spot kicks being followed by three of the next four being missed, two of which came from the boots of Inter duo Davide Fontalan and Ruben Sosa.

However, Villa did not build on that famous success, losing to Turkish club Trabzonspor on the away-goal rule after Orhan Kanyak's pivotal 92nd-minute effort in the second leg in England.