Skorupski: ‘I thought about Martinez when saving Aston Villa penalty’ | OneFootball

Lukasz Skorupski reveals he ‘thought about Dibu Martinez’ and used his technique to save the Ollie Watkins penalty in Bologna’s defeat to Aston Villa.

Argentina’s World Cup winner Emiliano Martinez was expected to start for the hosts this evening at Villa Park, but was not even on the bench due to a minor injury.

Nonetheless, he had an influence, because Bologna shot-stopper Skorupski took inspiration when parrying the Watkins penalty.

Skorupski inspired by Martinez against Aston Villa

BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 25: Donyell Malen of Aston Villa is tackled by Lukasz Skorupski of Bologna FC 1909 during the UEFA Europa League 2025/26 League Phase MD1 match between Aston Villa FC and Bologna FC 1909 at Villa Park on September 25, 2025 in Birmingham, England. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

“I actually thought someone else was going to take it, because they only handed it to Watkins at the last moment,” Skorupski told Sky Sport Italia.

“I thought about Dibu Martinez and the way he kind of dances back and forth on the line before penalties. I figured if I did that, he might fire it down the middle, and that’s what he did, so I left my leg dangling to save it.”

Skorupski is something of a specialist, saving 10 penalties in all competition since joining Bologna.

Despite that save, Bologna were still beaten 1-0 in Birmingham, thanks to the early John McGinn strike from outside the box.

Santiago Castro hit the crossbar for the Italians, while Marco Bizot made a desperate last-gasp save to deny Martin Vitik’s looping header.

“I think we can be proud of our team, because we fought it out against a very strong Premier League side and proved we can fight it out with everyone. Yes, we lost, but I think if we play like this, we can get through to the next phase of the tournament,” insisted Skorupski.

BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 25: John McGinn of Aston Villa scores his sides first goal during the UEFA Europa League 2025/26 League Phase MD1 match between Aston Villa FC and Bologna FC 1909 at Villa Park on September 25, 2025 in Birmingham, England. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

It was an improvement on last season, when Bologna lost here 2-0 in the Champions League.

“Perhaps the advantage is that we’ve been working with the coach for a year now, so we know his ideas better. Now we hope to keep improving game by game and start getting more points in Serie A too.”

There is a curious symmetry to Bologna’s season so far, as they won all their home fixtures, losing all three away from home by 1-0 results.

“I think we saw last season that after elimination from the Champions League, we learned a lot and took that to Serie A. Performances like this can boost our confidence and give us more belief going forward,” added Skorupski.