Aston Villa claimed a 1–0 win over Bologna in the Champions League, with John McGinn’s first-half strike proving decisive. Emiliano Martínez and his defence absorbed relentless pressure, while Villa repeatedly hurt Vincenzo Italiano’s side on the counter. Israel Schmidt de Azevedo explores the key tactical themes from the match.
Aston Villa v Bologna started with Bologna, as expected under Vincenzo Italiano, pressing high in the middle and final thirds. Santiago Castro and Jens Odgaard led the line, with Lewis Ferguson sometimes dropping in as a central forward to create a line of three. Behind them, a four-man midfield featured Nicolò Cambiaghi and Federico Bernardeschi as wide players, while Remo Freuler held the centre with Ferguson advancing at times. From the back, Jhon Lucumí and Martin Vitík stepped out from centre-back into defensive midfield roles, while both full-backs narrowed to act almost as additional central defenders.
This pressure created an early chance in the 2nd minute when Bologna forced the ball into the Villa penalty area, but Boubacar Kamara reacted quickly to snuff out the danger.
Aston Villa responded by widening their centre-backs and pushing both full-backs forward almost as wing-backs. Kamara dropped deep between them as a libero, with John McGinn and Morgan Rogers offering outlets in midfield. Emiliano Buendía drifted higher into an attacking midfield role, while Guessand floated inside from the right to support Donyell Malen in attack, giving Villa an out ball for swift counters.
Villa accepted Bologna’s pressure and set up to play on the break, exploiting the spaces left by the visitors’ high defensive line. In the 6th minute, Rogers released Guessand, who surged forward and shot, forcing Łukasz Skorupski into a strong save. The rebound fell to Buendía, but Bernardeschi tracked back brilliantly to clear before he could finish.
In the 13th minute, a short corner routine found Rogers free in the box, but his shot was deflected. The loose ball fell to McGinn, who controlled and fired into the corner to put Villa 1–0 ahead.
At 25 minutes, a sloppy Bologna build-up ended with Buendía curling a shot narrowly wide after a penalty appeal, while at the 34th minute, Guessand set up Malen for a one-on-one only for Skorupski to save. Bologna’s best moment of the first half came in the 42nd minute when Cambiaghi broke down the left, only for Matty Cash to foul him and halt the attack.
In the 52nd minute of the second half, Castro met a cross in the box but failed to connect cleanly. At 66 minutes, Villa won a penalty after Vitík fouled Ollie Watkins, but the striker’s tame effort was saved by Skorupski. Bologna almost equalised five minutes later when Riccardo Orsolini’s cross found Castro, whose header crashed against the crossbar.
Late on, Watkins saw a deflected effort fly wide in the 92nd minute, while in stoppage time Freuler’s free-kick delivery was nodded on by Vitík, forcing Bizot into a superb recovery save.
Aston Villa executed their counter-attacking plan perfectly, exploiting Bologna’s high-risk pressing game. Italiano’s side dominated possession but played with too much haste after conceding early, leaving space for Villa to punish them. Despite late pressure, Villa’s compact defending and clinical transitions secured a deserved victory.
Written by Israel Schmidt de Azevedo
INMR FOOTBALL 
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