Aston Villa travel away to face Lille
Aston Villa travel to Northern France to face Lille at Stade Pierre-Mauroy in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie today.
The two teams meet for the first time since their enthralling Conference League quarter-final tie in April 2024 when the English side prevailed on penalties following a 3-3 draw over two legs.
After reaching the Conference League semi-finals in 2024 and the Champions League quarter-finals last season, Aston Villa are competing in the Europa League knockout rounds this term after finishing second in the 36-team League Phase, level on points with table-toppers Lyon.
Since beating Red Bull Salzburg 3-2 at home at the end of January, Villa have suffered a dip in form on the domestic front which has coincided with injuries to a few key players. Just one win has been posted across their last seven games, most recently suffering a heavy 4-1 home defeat to Chelsea in the Premier League a week last Wednesday.
The Europa League could represent a valuable distraction for Villa, and possibly a backup route to next season’s Champions League, as a four-game winless run in the Premier League has dented their top-five hopes.
Head coach Unai Emery is “dreaming” of steering Villa to their first major trophy since 1996 and winning his record-extending fifth Europa League title as a manager. The Spaniard has won 66 of his 102 matches in the competition with five different clubs and he has never been eliminated in the last 16 in seven previous campaigns.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Bologna and Roma clash in all Italian tie
Commencing a battle to be the last Italian team standing in this season’s Europa League, Bologna and Roma will clash at Stadio Dall’Ara on Thursday.
The Serie A pair must beat familiar foes in their last-16 tie, with a quarter-final against either Lille or Aston Villa ultimately at stake.
Having progressed from their first UEFA knockout tie for 26 years – beating SK Brann 1-0 in both legs of a playoff – Bologna are now aiming to ride that momentum and reach the Europa League’s latter stages. Since losing at Villa Park on the opening matchday, the Emilian club have lost none of their next nine fixtures in the current campaign, thereby matching their all-time best unbeaten sequence in Europe.
Just avoiding defeat on Thursday evening would see them surpass a streak set way back in 1967, but coach Vincenzo Italiano will aim to take a first-leg lead down to Rome.
A 10th-placed finish in the league phase may have meant they had to take the playoff route, but Bologna are still firmly in the hunt for more silverware.
Despite inching back up to eighth place in Serie A, they still trail their next visitors by 12 points, and any hopes of returning to Europe surely rest on winning the Europa League.
When the sides met at Stadio Olimpico earlier this season, Roma won 1-0; but before the teams reconvene in Emilia-Romagna, that is Bologna’s lone loss across the last six meetings.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Celta Vigo host Lyon in Last 16 of Europa League
Meeting for the first time on the European stage, Celta Vigo welcome Lyon to Balaidos in the Spanish community of Galicia for the opening leg of that round of 16 Europa League tie.
Thanks to a pair of one-goal victories over PAOK in the playoff phase, the Spaniards were able to advance, while Lyon finished on top of the League Phase table, earning an automatic place in the last 16.
A pair of narrow victories against a well-structured and disciplined Greek side has taken Celta Vigo into the last 16 of this tournament for the first time since 2016-17. Four of the previous five competitive games played by Claudio Giraldez’s men have been decided by a single goal, with Vigo winning on three of those occasions.
They will enter this contest unbeaten in their last four Europa League encounters, dropping points only once over that stretch (1-1 draw at Red Star Belgrade).
At the same time, four of their five matches played at home in this tournament ended in a victory for Celta, though three of their four competitive defeats in 2026 have also come at Belaidos.
Thursday will mark their first knockout game in this competition since reaching the semi-finals of the 2016-17 Europa League, with their only two knockout defeats in that edition coming at home.
Celta Vigo has a 100% record against French opposition in the Europa League, defeating Lille and Nice at home in the League Phase this season by 2-1 scores.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Crystal Palace out for revenge against AEK Larnaca
Crystal Palace will be out for revenge when they play host to AEK Larnaca in the first leg of their Conference League last-16 tie.
Just under five months ago, the Eagles suffered a slender 1-0 League Phase loss to the Cypriot side in what was their first game in a major European competition at Selhurst Park.
Crystal Palace remain the bookmakers’ favourite to win the Conference League despite finishing down in 10th place in the 36-team League Phase after winning only half of their six games (W3 D1 L2).
Palace have experienced mixed results away from home in the Premier League, with a 2-1 defeat at Man United followed four days later by a much-needed 3-1 success over Tottenham, a result which has helped the South Londoners move 10 points clear of the relegation zone.
Head coach Oliver Glasner will be leaving his post at the end of the season and the Austrian – a Europa League winner with Eintracht Frankfurt in 2021-22 – will hope to go out on a high.
Palace’s solid home form in Europe bodes well ahead of Thursday’s contest, but that solitary defeat was against Larnaca, who have been described as a “compact team”.
Another tight and cagey contest could be in store here, with Larnaca boasting a slight psychological edge following their win at Selhurst Park earlier this season, as well their unbeaten run in the Conference League.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Europa League Fixtures
Panathinaikos 17:45 Real Betis
Celta Vigo 20:00 Olympique Lyonnais
Ferencváros 20:00 Sporting Braga
Nottingham Forest 20:00 Midtjylland
Conference League Fixtures
Lech Poznań 17:45 Shakhtar Donetsk
Samsunspor 17:45 Rayo Vallecano
Crystal Palace 20:00 AEK Larnaca
