The Holy Trinity: Aston Villa conclusions from Europa League quarter-final win at Bologna

Villa scored with the last kick of the game to bring a 3-1 advantage back to Birmingham

Favourites or not, nobody expected the Europa League to be easy. The first leg of the quarter-final wasn’t, yet here we are basking in the light of a job well done.

Aston Villa were always going to have to do some part of the Europa League the hard way. It’s a long competition, 15 matches if Unai Emery gets his way, and Europa League teams by definition are not above tripping themselves over.

Winning the whole thing – that’s been the goal all along and nothing has changed but proximity – requires some luck, some graft, some subpar performances overcome to deliver results when they matter.

Villa weren’t second-best in their 3-1 win at Bologna on Thursday but it was only after their second goal that they were comfortable and in control.

But when your team goes away in the first leg of a European quarter-final and comes back with a two-goal advantage, the details don’t really matter.

Nevertheless, here’s your Holy Trinity of match conclusions: