Disappointment and confusion as Bologna attendance at Aston Villa collapses

Aston Villa host Bologna in their UEFA Europa League opener on Thursday.

The two sides played each other last season in the Champions League, as Unai Emery’s side ran out 2-0 winners.

That clash hosted around 2500 Bologna fans at Villa Park but that number is going to be much lower when the two sides meet on Thursday.

Il Resto del Carlino report today that only 750 Rossoblu supporters will watch the game against Aston Villa and the newspaper are pretty disappointed by this number.

They describe it as a ‘decidedly low figure’, as 2500 fans attended the tie last season, with ticket sales having closed on Monday afternoon this time around.

The outlet note that the allocation was 2100 this time around and only one-third of those tickets were sold. There’s also disappointment from travel agencies, who had expected similar numbers and planned accordingly.

There is belief more Bologna fans will be present at the National Arena in Romania when the Italian side take on FCSB, as Bucharest is a city that many Rossoblu fans have never travelled to in the past.