Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa has likened the club’s start to the season to the relegation scrap he faced during his first campaign at the club in 2019/20.

Unai Emery’s team were in the Champions League last season and finished sixth in the top flight but have not won any of their first five league games, only scoring their first goal in a 1-1 draw at newcomers Sunderland on Sunday.

“We are feeling it – especially me at the back,” England international Konsa told TNT Sports after Villa beat Bologna at home in their Europa League opener for their first victory of 2025/26.

“My first season here, we went through a similar thing, fighting relegation. The crowd can be really tricky here. I have to try to block them out – it’s part of football.”

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

Aston Villa vs Bologna: Konsa appeals to fans

Captain John 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.

England forward Ollie Watkins had a second-half penalty saved for Villa, who are now unbeaten in seven European games in front of their own fans.

“The boss always speaks about us getting them behind us,” said Konsa. “When things aren’t going well, it’s important the fans stay with us.

“You can see, at times, they get a bit frustrated with some of our players. We have to be able to deal with that.

“I try to stay positive as much as possible. Last season we went through a blip but, at that point, we were scoring goals.

“It just felt a bit different. Now we ain’t scoring as much, it just feels a bit low.”

Europa League ‘special’ for Aston Villa

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).

“We have started a little bit confused [over] a lot of things, but now I am happy because the supporters were here,” Emery said.

“The stadium was more or less full, which is very important. They have to push us. Europe is something special and they were with us.

“Hopefully, we can get energy together again – the players, the club, the supporters – to build something special this season. We try to be responsible to give them hard work and success.”

Unai Emery ‘not buying’ Villa confidence

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.

“Confidence is something we have to build in training and at Villa Park, when we are meeting at the hotel – it’s something you are not buying in the shop,” suggested Emery.

“You have to create it together and build it. Winning, we can feel better. This is the first step forward.

“We have to try to get stronger, to win, to play with our identity and be together.”

Villa play the second of their eight league phase matches in the Europa League on Thursday away to Eredivisie leaders Feyenoord, who have taken 16 points from their first six league games.

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

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.