Villa start their Europa League campaign by beating Bologna. Dave Woodhall reports.
You can usually tell how seriously a manager is taking a cup match with the first name announced on the team sheet. If it’s the first choice keeper you know you’re usually going to see something like full-strength. If not, may as well put your feet up because the rest of the team will be doing the same.
So when the name “Marco Bizot” was read out before kick-off, the warning signs were there, particularly as the rest of the team included such names as the recently out of favour Pau Torres, with Donyell Malen up front replacing Ollie Watkins. Then there was news that Emiliano Martinez was (hopefully slightly) injured and a second glance at the rest of the side showed that the manager was doing a bit of squad rotation, which we’re still not entirely familiar with.
One thing that we’re more familiar with than we should be is the Europa League anthem, but let’s ignore that bit of last-season embarrassment and concentrate on the present. Playing Bologna again would be a good test of whether Villa’s current slump is a minor blip or the sign of a worrying long-term decline. They’re mid-table in Serie A, as they were when they arrived at Villa Park last time. We got a routine 2-0 won then, so equaling that would have been something to aim at.
And the early signs were promising. Evann Guessand created himself a good chance although it was deal with fairly easily by a mass of Bologna defenders. That was followed by Morgan Rogers mis-kicking when the goal was open but the ball fell nicely for John Mc Ginn top put Villa into the lead on thirteen minutes. There were other chances either side of the break, although few of them cause the visiting keeper much trouble.
Watkins came on and was soon brought down by the keeper for a clear penalty. It’s easy to be wise after the event but when there’s only one goal in the match, a striker lacking in confidence is the last player you should trust with a spot kick. Watkins’ nerves were obvious, his penalty was badly-placed and easily saved. Then again a foot higher and it would have been a goal; that’s the difference between success and failure.
That miss seemed to affect the entire team as Bologna came back into the game and with twenty minutes to go a dangerous cross was met by a header that hit the bar. There wasn’t much Bizot could have done had it been a bit lower, but he did well to save with almost the last kick of the match, something else that happened in the opening European game last season.
As a year-on-year test the match didn’t tell us much that wasn’t already obvious. Villa are clearly not the attacking force they were eleven months ago but there were signs of improvement. There were also lots of empty seats. An indifferent start to the season would have kept a few people at home but the biggest reason was that you can’t charge Champions League prices if you’re playing in the Europa. I do wish Villa would learn their lesson.
