Aston Villa reached the Europa League semi-finals with a 4-0 home win over Bologna, completing a 7-1 aggregate success, as Ollie Watkins hit his 100th goal for the club and set up a last-four tie against Nottingham Forest between two historic English sides.

Watkins struck the opener at Villa Park before Emiliano Buendia, Morgan Rogers and Ezri Konsa added further goals, extending an already commanding first-leg lead and confirming Villa’s first European semi-final appearance of this era, while Bologna exited after struggling to match Villa’s attacking power over both games.

The forward’s close-range finish moved Watkins into elite company, as Watkins became only the third player to hit 100 goals in all competitions for a Premier League club since Watkins’ Villa debut on 15th September 2020, joining Mohamed Salah on 159 and Erling Haaland on 157 over the same period.

Watkins also stands alone as Aston Villa’s top scorer in major European competitions, with 10 goals, moving past Peter Withe and John McGinn, who both previously shared the record with nine, underlining Watkins’ influence on Villa’s return to regular continental football under current management.

“It’s a milestone every striker wants to hit,” Watkins told TNT Sports. “The next is 100 Premier League goals, that’s what I have my eyes on. In my career, I have scored a lot of goals like that. Just being in the box and being prepared for it to fall to me. Morgan [Rogers] put it on a plate for me.”

Key attacking numbers from the Opta statistics team highlighted Watkins’ status among current forwards, while also setting his output in context with leading names in the English top flight during the same timeframe since September 2020.

The semi-final against Nottingham Forest will be the first time two English clubs meet at this stage of a major European competition since Manchester United faced Arsenal in the 2008-09 Champions League, adding extra focus for Premier League followers and broadcasters across Europe and the Middle East.

Watkins stressed that Aston Villa are trying to stay grounded before the Forest tie and the club’s league run-in, despite the strong position. “When you’re in a competition like this, anything can happen. We prepare for each game as it comes,” added the striker. “It’s an exciting time for me personally and the team. We have everyone fit and are playing our best football. We’ve got it all to play for. If someone said we would be fighting for Champions League and in the semi-final of the European competition, I would’ve bit their hand off!”

On the opposing side, Bologna head coach Vincenzo Italiano looked at the wider picture from the campaign and praised Aston Villa’s level, tipping the English side for Europa League glory despite the heavy scoreline across the two legs against Italian opposition in this quarter-final.

“We must learn lessons from the whole journey, recognise that right now Aston Villa have an extra gear compared to us,” said Italiano. “They probably belong in the Champions League more than the Europa League, and I believe they will win the trophy. Our performance in the first leg was very strong, but we paid for too many distractions and errors. I dont know if the difference between the teams is all that big, but all credit to them, they took every opportunity.”

Villa now head into the Aston Villa Europa League semi-final and the Premier League run-in with Watkins in prolific form, a full squad available and targets on two fronts, while Bologna leave the competition encouraged by earlier displays but aware that small errors across 180 minutes proved costly against opponents operating at a higher level.