Unai Emery urged Aston Villa to remain focused on the Europa League quarter-final second leg, despite their healthy advantage against Bologna.

The Premier League side established a 3-1 lead over their Serie A opponents at Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, where Ollie Watkins scored twice in the second half to give Villa breathing space.

Villa's first ever win in Italy was also their 24th in major European competitions since the start of the 2023-24 season, with only Real Madrid (26) and Bayern Munich (25) registering more during that time.

But Emery knows the tie is still far from over, ahead of the return leg at Villa Park on Thursday.

"Happy, yes, but we are trying to get balance in everything," the Villa boss told TNT Sports. 

"We played the first leg here and won, and it is a fantastic result. But we still have the second leg to play.

"In the first half, we were a bit shy. We needed to try to make more passes, to get better positions in the attacking third, but we were losing the ball easily. We were not conceding a lot, but within a few moments, we conceded [chances].

"Set-pieces are always important, but it was our priority defensively and offensively because we knew before the match that it would be one way to try to get something. In the first half, we scored one goal [and had] other chances as well.

"The result was much better than the match we played in the first half. But in the second half, it was completely different. We dominated them and controlled the game like we planned to in the first half, and we were feeling comfortable. Then we reacted well offensively when they scored.

"In the second leg, they are going to try to suppress us and my message inside the dressing room is to keep playing the second leg with the same plan."

Scoring in successive European away games for the first time, Watkins has netted three times in as many Europa League appearances, as many as in his previous 24 in major continental competitions.

"[We're at the] back end of the season, I'm raring to go," he said. "I could play another 90 minutes. I'm excited for the next few games. I'm hungry.

"We got the goal from the set-piece and that took the sting out of the game. They were dominant before that, but just before half-time is a great time to score. We got the second after half-time, and then we felt we were always going to score more.

"We have to play like that every game. We have to keep pushing, everyone around us is winning. We're in a great spot at the end of the season, and it's all to play for."

Bologna, meanwhile, were beaten in a home game in the UEFA Cup/Europa League for the very first time, ending a run of 20 matches without defeat (W10 D10).

Head coach Vincenzo Italiano believes his side were overcome by the team who will get their hands on the trophy on May 20.

"We were in the game from start to finish, we saw what we expected from them, but if you make certain mistakes against them, you will be punished," he told Sky Sport Italia.

"If you gift two or three goals, you are going to inevitably struggle, both on the night and in the tie.

"Now, we'll see what happens in the second leg, but the performance was strong, we caused problems for a team of a truly high value.

"I think we saw confirmation of what I thought beforehand, which is that Aston Villa will win the Europa League.

"Congratulations to them, because they made the most of absolutely everything we let slip, despite a good performance from Bologna."