Vincenzo Italiano has pointed to three particular strengths that Unai Emery and his Aston Villa side have at their disposal: Their midfield block, their strength in possession and their ability from set pieces.
The two teams will face each other at Villa Park in the third round of Champions League league phase fixtures on Tuesday night.
“Out of possession, they create a block in the middle of midfield and they re-set well,” Italiano said during his pre-match press conference on Monday night.
He continued: “They try to make you play in order for them to attack the spaces behind. They let you play, but they are very strong when they gain possession and they know what to do. They are also very strong on set pieces.”
Aston Villa-Bologna background
Tuesday night’s game will be the first time that Bologna and Aston Villa have met in European competition. It is Bologna’s first appearance in the Champions League since the preliminary round of the 2964-65 European Cup.
Villa currently sit in sixth place with a maximum of six points from their first two matches of the competition, which were made up of a 3-0 win away against Young Boys and an impressive 1-0 win at home to Bayern Munich.
Bologna, meanwhile, are in 26th, two places shy of the play-off positions, having suffered a loss against Liverpool last time out and a draw against Shakhtar Donetsk in the opening round of fixtures.