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Aston Villa Aston Villa  2 0  Lille 

John McGinn scored his 36th goal for Aston Villa to help beat Lille in the Europa League At a glance

• John McGinn scores in 54th minute to ease Villa nerves

• Leon Bailey nets in 85th minute to settle the tie, 3-0 on aggregate

• Villa to play Bologna in Europa League quarter-finals

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By

Nick Mashiter

Football reporter at Villa Park

Skipper John McGinn and Leon Bailey fired Aston Villa into the Europa League quarter-finals with a composed victory over Lille.

The Scotland international set up a match against Bologna in the last eight as Villa won 3-0 on aggregate.

The Italians edged out Serie A rivals Roma in extra time, winning 4-3 on the night and 5-4 on aggregate.

Unai Emery - a four-time Europa League winner - is a step closer to ending Villa's 30-year trophy drought, which would also earn the club a return to the Champions League.

It was an ultimately forgettable game which suited Villa as Lille rarely threatened, with Ollie Watkins' goal in France last week giving the hosts their platform for success.

Victory comes amid awful Premier League form, with two wins from 10 games, which has meant Villa's place in the top five has come under threat but European success can help inspire a recovery.

Tammy Abraham and Amadou Onana forced Berke Ozer into smart stops before McGinn struck in the second half, finishing off a quick break after goalkeeper Emi Martinez launched a perfect pass to Jadon Sancho after saving Nabil Bentaleb's free-kick.

Sancho then hit the post before Bailey tapped in his first Villa goal for a year with five minutes left as they finished off their Ligue 1 visitors.

• What did you make of Aston Villa's display?

Aston Villa analysis: Martinez magic gives Villa inspiration

Keeper Martinez was serenaded by the Aston Villa fans after his vital contribution.

He turned into Villa's quarterback when he launched a pinpoint pass for Sancho to run on to and tee up McGinn.

The Argentina international ran half the length of the field to celebrate with his team-mates before raising his fists towards the North Stand on returning to his goal.

The second-half opener settled Villa's nerves, which were evident around Villa Park during a tepid first half. Villa could have drifted into trouble but they remained largely in control.

Lille looked to contain them in the first half and then open up to try to level the tie after the break, but it only served to help Villa with gaps appearing for McGinn, and then Bailey late on, to score.

Even when they were left chasing the game at 2-0 down on aggregate the French side did not have the necessary class to worry Villa.

The second goal added gloss to a performance which again lacked quality and energy. Villa did what they needed to do to get the job done, but still need to improve - both in the Premier League and Europe.

Yet they can still produce one-off moments, like Martinez did, to lift them and ensure their Europa League dream remains alive.

What's next for these teams?

Aston Villa host West Ham in the Premier League on Sunday (14:15 GMT), before their Europa League quarter-final first leg at Bologna on 9 April (20:00 BST).

Lille have a Ligue 1 home game with Marseille on Sunday (16:15), before a trip to Lens on 4 April (20:05).

Preview: Real Betis vs Panathinaikos - prediction, team news, lineups

Alberto Gardin

Real Betis will welcome Panathinaikos to La Cartuja for Thursday's Europa League last-16 clash.

The Greek side carry a narrow lead into the second leg after claiming a 1-0 victory in last week's meeting in Athens.

Match preview

Betis are competing in the last 16 after finishing in fourth place in the league phase with five wins, two draws and just one defeat from their eight matches.

However, they fell to their second loss of the main draw in last week's first leg against Panathinaikos, leaving them with work to do if they are to keep their hopes alive of going deep into another European competition after finishing as the Conference League runners-up last term.

Los Verdiblancos followed that result with a 1-1 draw in Sunday's La Liga home clash against sixth-placed Celta Vigo, keeping them three points clear of the Galician side in the battle for fifth spot.

While they may have avoided defeat, the result made it five consecutive matches without a win since recording back-to-back victories over Atletico Madrid and Mallorca.

Having mustered just one goal in their last three outings, Betis need to rediscover their goalscoring touch if they are to remain in the hunt for their first European trophy.

The hosts can at least take confidence from the fact they have won each of their previous three Europa League home games against Lyon, Utrecht and Feyenoord.

In contrast to Betis, Panathinaikos had to negotiate a knockout playoff round tie against Viktoria Plzen after they finished in 17th spot in the league phase.

The Greek giants drew both legs against Plzen before they held their nerve to win 4-3 in the subsequent penalty shootout in the Czech Republic.

Rafael Benitez's side will hope to avoid the lottery of penalties in Thursday's fixture, with the visitors boasting a slender advantage from a dramatic first leg that produced two red cards.

Anass Zaroury was dismissed for two bookable offences just shy of the hour mark, before Betis defender Diego Llorente gave away a late penalty that resulted in a second yellow card and allowed Vicente Taborda to win the game from the spot. 

Panathinaikos followed that successful result with a frustrating goalless draw in Sunday's Greek Super League clash with Panetolikos, although they at least extended their unbeaten run to nine matches in all competitions.

While that run will give them confidence, Panathinaikos know they still have plenty of work to do to reach their first European quarter-final since the 2002-03 UEFA Cup, especially as they have lost 14 of their last 19 European meetings with Spanish opposition (W2, D3). 

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Average Rating:6.33   Real Betis vs Panathinaikos - prediction, team news, lineups