Here we are again: Aston Villa are in the quarter-finals of a European competition for the third season on the bounce.
Villa are in shit-or-bust territory in the Premier League and Europa League alike. Every game means everything. If that sounds stressful, I’d remind you that this is essentially where we wanted to be.
Villa have second-leg home advantage in this quarter-final and the semi-final too, if they make it that far, so the quarter-final tie gets underway on Thursday with an away leg against Serie A side Bologna.
In all likelihood, the Rossoblu are relying on the Europa League to pave a path back into Europe. They’re nine points behind Roma in sixth domestically but knocked them out in the last round to set up this European tie against Villa.