Aston Villa ended their winless run by beating Bologna 1-0 to open their Europa League campaign.

Luka Modric scored days after his 40th birthday to join an exclusive club and give AC Milan a 1-0 win over Bologna in Serie A on Sunday.

Dan Ndoye scored the goal in the 53rd minute which gave Bologna a historic victory, their first honour since last winning the cup in 1974.

AC Milan kept alive their hopes of European football next season by coming from behind to beat Bologna 3-1 in Serie A on Friday in a warm-up for next week's Italian Cup final.

Napoli let Serie A leaders Inter Milan off the hook on Monday after being held to a 1-1 draw at Champion League chasers Bologna, who missed the chance to move into third place.

Bologna have one foot in the Italian Cup final after strolling to a 3-0 win at Empoli on Tuesday and giving joyous fans hope of a first major trophy in over half a century.

Milan's 2-1 defeat left them eight points behind Juventus, who are in 4th.

Borussia Dortmund have now lost four successive games across all competitions.

Only four points separate Napoli, Inter and Atalanta at the top of the Serie A table.

Two Lille fans were stabbed during an attack carried out by dozens of Bologna supporters before the two teams' Champions League fixture, the French Ligue 1 club said on Wednesday.

John McGinn said there is no limit to Aston Villa's ambition in the Champions League after beating Bologna 2-0 to go top of the table in a dream return to the competition.

Even Jurgen Klopp, Kenny Dalglish, Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley were unable to muster as many wins at the start of their spells in charge of the Reds.

Every team will play eight games against eight different opponents in the new format of Europe's elite club competition, with all 36 clubs now pooled together into one league rather than split into groups.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia starred as Napoli got their first win under Antonio Conte on Sunday by beating Bologna 3-0, while Roma slumped to a shock 2-1 home defeat to Empoli.

Manchester United signed Netherlands striker Joshua Zirkzee from Bologna in a deal worth a reported 36.5 million pound (46.3 million dollar) on Sunday.

In a match that might have been a test of Thiago Motta's credentials to take over Juventus, his Bologna team made a blazing start but collapsed at the end and drew 3-3 with the Turin giants on Monday.

Juventus and Bologna were both were held to goalless draws on Saturday as the Serie A clubs' bids for Champions League football were slowed by Torino and Monza.

Bologna continued their surprise Serie A charge to a Champions League spot on Friday after a stoppage-time winner by Giovanni Fabbian gave them a 1-0 win at Empoli.