Vincenzo Italiano's Bologna faced a loss in their Europa League season opener on Thursday, September 25, 2025, at Villa Park in Birmingham. Emery's Aston Villa netted the sole goal of the match, marking their first win of the year after a challenging season. Aston Villa gained the advantage in the 13th minute. John McGinn netted a left-footed strike from outside the penalty area into the bottom right corner after a corner kick. Photo via x.com/AVFCOfficial ASTON VILLA FC (ENG) - BOLOGNA FC 1909 (ITA) Thursday 25 September 2025 21:00 CET - Birmingham (Villa Park) Referee: Jesús Gil Manzano ESP Assistant Referee 1: Ángel Nevado Rodríguez ESP Assistant Referee 2: Guadalupe Porras Ayuso ESP Fourth Official: José Luis Munuera Montero ESP Video Assistant Referee: César Soto Grado ESP Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Carlos del Cerro Grande ESP UEFA Referee Observer: Kýros Vassáras GRE UEFA Delegate: Rodney Pisani MLT ⚽️ Goals: 🟨 Yellow Cards: ✅ Official Lineups - Formations - Tabellino: Lineup ASTON VILLA (4-4-2): Bizot; Cash, Konsa, Pau Torres, Maatsen; Guessand, McGinn, Kamara, Rogers; Buendia, Malen. Subs: Ravaglia, Pessina, Holm, Moro, Orsolini, Rowe, Heggem, Dallinga, Miranda, Fabbian. Coach: Emery. 🔴🔵   Lineup BOLOGNA (4-2-3-1): Skorupski; Zortea, Vitik, Lucumì, Lykogiannis; Ferguson, Freuler; Bernardeschi, Odgaard, Cambiaghi; Castro. Subs: Proctor, Oakley, Lindelof, Mings, Elliott, Watkins, Digne, Andres Garcia, Sancho, Bogarde, Burrowes. Coach:   Vincenzo Italiano.    

This is unmistakably Villa Park. pic.twitter.com/rgKUPzwq3T

— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) September 24, 2025