Bologna come to Villa Park. Avanti, leoni.
It’s time to play the Champions League anthem again, and I hope I never stop getting excited by that sound. It’d be nice to qualify every season but no matter how successful we might become, I wouldn’t want to take such nights for granted or become the sort of entitled twat that Manchester City have made a speciality of since they started buying success.
This time it’s Bologna. They’ve won the league seven times, all but one of them in the dim and distant past (sound familiar?) and in recent years they’ve had a series of owners, some decent and some awful, culminating in relegation (sound familiar?). Last season they finished fifth and this season they’re mid-table with a load of draws. Think a John Gregory team, but without the flair.
Their manager has got the most Italian-sounding name ever, their club captain is a Scot who started off with Hamilton and he’s got an uncle whose career dipped even lower. Also in their squad is Samuel Iling-Junior, who apparently signed for us in the summer and their goalkeeping coach is a Villa supporter. They’ll have a load of worryingly-stylish supporters up town in the afternoon, where they’ll find a load of Noses desperate to be their friends and daresay they’ll manage to get flares and all that kind of foreign malarkey into Villa Park.
We’ve still got a full-strength squad to pick from and a win will virtually seal a place in at least the play-offs. There’s been a few worrying stories of tickets not arriving yet so be prepared for some problems getting into the ground and remember, whatever happens it won’t be the club’s fault. As we should know by now, Chris Heck is never wrong. Three points, get the win wrapped up early so the subs can have a few minutes and bring on the next victims.