Emery: We were shy in the first half, we dominated in the second

Aston Villa coach Unai Emery said he was partially satisfied with the team's performance in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-final against Bologna, but that it was a fantastic result.

"Satisfied, yes, but we are trying to balance things. We played the first game and won and it is a fantastic result. As we played 90 minutes, I can be more or less satisfied with some things and not so satisfied with others. A good result, but we still have a second leg," Emery told TNT Sports.

Aston Villa players defeated Bologna 3-1 in Italy last night, in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-finals.

"In the first half we were a bit shy. We should have tried to pass more, to be better positioned in attack, we lost the ball easily. We didn't lose it a lot, but after a few moments of possession, we did. The result was much better than the game in the first half, but the second half of the game was completely different. We dominated and controlled the game as we planned in the first half but we didn't do that. We reacted well when we conceded a goal," Emery said.

The return match will be played next Thursday in Birmingham.

"In the second leg they will try to push us and my message to the players is to continue playing with the same plan, the plan we will have, but to continue to respect the opponent," added the Spanish coach.

The double scorer was Oli Watkins, with goals in the 51st minute and the fourth minute of injury time.

"It could have been different. Their goal was disallowed and it would have been 1-0 for them, and if it had stayed like that, it would have taken us a long time to come back. We were lucky, they played hard. It's the end of the season, I can't wait for the games. I could play another 90 minutes. I'm excited and 'hungry,'" Watkins said.

The Aston Villa striker added that the team must continue to play well in every game until the end of the season.

"We have to keep going, everyone around us is winning. We are in a good position at the end of the season and we have something to play for," he stated.

Aston Villa have won 24 times in their last 35 European matches, with only Real Madrid (26) and Bayern Munich (25) having won more matches since the start of the 2023/2024 season.