After the national team failed to qualify for the World Cup for the third consecutive time and none of Serie A's representatives in the Champions League made it to the quarter-finals, Italian soccer's woes continued on Thursday with Bologna and Fiorentina suffering defeats that put them on the verge of exiting the Europa League and Conference League respectively.
    Despite a spirited display, Bologna lost 3-1 at home to Aston Villa in the quarter-final of Europe's second most-important club competition and face a mountain to climb in Birmingham next week to progress to the last four.
    Former European champions Villa took command of the tie thanks to a double by Ollie Watkins and a header by Ezri Konsa.
    The hosts, who scored through Jonathan Rowe, were unlucky, hitting the woodwork twice and having a early goal disallowed for a marginal offside.
    Fiorentina went down 3-0 in the away leg of their Conference League quarter-final in London, with Jean-Philippe Mateta, Tyrick Mitchell and Ismaila Sarr scoring for the English team.
   
   

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