John McGinn’s first-half strike from distance gave Aston Villa a timely first win of the season as the Premier League side started the 2025/26 Europa League with victory over Bologna at Villa Park.

Captain McGinn drilled in a precise low finish in the 13th minute to score the Villans’ first home goal of the season and start their league phase in style against the Coppa Italia holders.

John McGinn gets Aston Villa’s first home goal of the season!

He gives his side the lead against Bologna in the 13th minute 💥

📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/gbCYIuB7lB

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) September 25, 2025

Santiago Castro almost equalised when Riccardo Orsolini, who scored Bologna’s 99th-minute winner with a penalty at home to Genoa in Serie A on Saturday, crossed for the forward to head against the crossbar.

You can relive 101GreatGoals.com’s live text updates from Aston Villa vs Bologna here.

Aston Villa vs Bologna: McGinn goal

Villa were indebted to a long-range goal by Matty Cash for their draw at Sunderland on Sunday, and McGinn’s was a work of greater precision from a player whose four goals from outside the box in major European competitions are the most of any player since the start of the 2023/24 season.

Bologna, who have won and lost two each of their first games in Serie A, struggled to meaningfully threaten and were repeatedly caught out by their opponents’ alert offside trap.

Third-bottom of the Premier League, Villa are next in action at home to seventh-placed Fulham on Sunday (14:00 BST / 09:00 ET / 06:00 PT).

Bologna, who are 11th in Italy, visit bottom side Lecce on the same day (17:00 BST / 12:00 ET / 09:00 PT).

Aston Villa team vs Bologna

Midfielders Amadou Onana, Ross Barkley and Youri Tielemans and wideman Andres Garcia remained out for Villa through injury but defender Victor Lindelof was on the bench again, having returned from an issue in the draw at Sunderland.

Morgan Rogers was Villa’s top scorer on their run to the Champions League quarter-finals last season, contributing four goals and three assists in 12 appearances.

Aston Villa starting XI: Marco Bizot, Matty Cash, Ezri Konsa, Pau Torres, Ian Maatsen, Boubacar Kamara, John McGinn, Evann Guessand, Morgan Rogers, Emiliano Buendia, Donyell Malen

Aston Villa substitutes: Victor Lindelof, Tyrone Mings, Harvey Elliott, Ollie Watkins, Lucas Digne, Andres García, Jadon Sancho, Lamare Bogarde, Sam Proctor, Bradley Burrowes, Rhys Oakley

Bologna team vs Aston Villa

Ciro Immobile was the joint-top scorer in the 2017/18 Europa League for Lazio but Bologna’s new signing was out with a hamstring injury.

Tommaso Pobega also had a hamstring problem and fellow midfielder Ibrahim Sulemana sustained a knee injury while representing Ghana earlier in September.

Bologna starting XI: Lukasz Skorupski, Nadir Zortea, Martin Vitík, Jhon Lucumí, Charalampos Lykogiannis, Lewis Ferguson, Remo Freuler, Jens Odgaard, Federico Bernardeschi, Santiago Castro, Nicolo Cambiaghi

Bologna substitutes: Emil Holm, Nikola Moro, Riccardo Orsolini, Jonathan Rowe, Federico Ravaglia, Torbjorn Heggem, Thijs Dallinga, Massimo Pessina, Juan Miranda, Giovanni Fabbian

Aston Villa Europa League fixtures, results 2025/26

Villa’s opponents in the league phase include reigning Israeli champions Maccabi Tel Aviv and Swiss title holders Basel.

Fenerbahce were runners-up in Turkiye and Salzburg finished second in Austria, while Bologna (Italy), Go Ahead Eagles (Netherlands) and Young Boys (Switzerland) won the primary domestic cup competitions in their countries.

Feyenoord, who won the second of their UEFA Cup titles in 2001/02, finished third in the Eredivisie but were knocked out of Champions League qualifying.

All fixtures start at 20:00 GMT / 15:00 ET / 12:00 PT unless stated otherwise.

Thursday, September 25: Villa 1-0 Bologna

Thursday, October 2: Feyenoord vs Villa

Thursday, October 23: Go Ahead Eagles vs Villa (17:45)

Thursday, November 6: Villa vs Maccabi Tel Aviv

Thursday, November 27: Villa vs Young Boys (17:45)

Thursday, December 11: Basel vs Villa

Thursday, January 22, 2026: Fenerbahce vs Villa (17:45)

Thursday, January 29: Villa vs Salzburg

Aston Villa Europa League squad 2025/26

Villa’s List A Europa League squad has been registered until the round of 16 in February 2026, when clubs can add a maximum of three new players within the existing limit of 25.

Goalkeepers: Emi Martinez, Marco Bizot

Defenders: Matty Cash, Victor Lindelof, Ezri Konsa, Tyrone Mings, Lucas Digne, Pau Torres

Midfielders: Andres García, Ian Maatsen, John McGinn, Youri Tielemans, Jadon Sancho, Amadou Onana, Boubacar Kamara, Harvey Elliott

Forwards: Emi Buendía, Ollie Watkins, Donyell Malen, Morgan Rogers, Evann Guessand

List B submissions, comprised of players born after January 1, 2004 who have been eligible to play for the club for an uninterrupted period of two years since their 15th birthday, can also be made until midnight before each match.

Aston Villa Europa League schedule 2025/26

In a change from the previous group stage held until 2023/24, each team now plays eight matches in the league phase, all against different opponents.

The top eight sides in the table qualify automatically for the round of 16. The teams finishing in ninth to 24th will compete in a two-legged knockout phase play-off to reach the last 16.

Teams finishing 25th or lower are out of Europe for the season.

Knockout phase play-offs: February 17/18 & 24/25 2026

Round of 16: March 10/11 & 17/18 2026

Quarter-finals: April 7/8 & 14/15 2026

Semi-finals: April 28/29 and May 5/6 2026

Final: May 30 2026

When are the Europa League draws?

Knockout phase play-offs: January 30 2026

Round of 16, quarter-final, semi-final, and final: February 27 2026

Which English clubs are in the Europa League 2025/26?

Villa qualified by finishing sixth in 2024/25, although they would have been in the Champions League had they not lost at Manchester United on the final day.

Nottingham Forest’s participation comes after they were promoted from the Conference League because of a UEFA ruling against FA Cup winners Crystal Palace, upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

When is the Europa League final?

The final will take place on May 20 2026 at the Besiktas Stadium home of 16-time Turkish champions Besiktas.

The stadium hosted a dramatic 2019 Super Cup final, Chelsea and Liverpool each scoring once during regular and extra time before the Reds won on penalties following the 2-2 draw.

How to watch Aston Villa in the Europa League: TV channel, stream

TNT Sports have the live broadcast rights to the Europa League in the UK.

TNT Sports costs £29.99 a month through discovery+, which includes Eurosport and entertainment.

How to live stream Aston Villa Europa League games online

TNT Sports’ discovery+ app allows fans to live-stream games on a vast range of devices including smart TVs and gaming consoles.