The defeat was tactically and strategically significant for the allies and "rendered the outcome of the siege of Mantua a foregone conclusion", leading to the collapse of the city's defenses and its infamous sack later that year.
[1] The Genoese Pietro Giovanni Capriata states in his influential, pro-Hapsburg account of the war of Mantuan succession that in the lead up to the clash the larger French and Venetian army had left Venetian territory and marched south-west to face the Imperial army then gathered at Goito, a town in the contested territory of the Duchy of Mantova controlling the road between Mantua and Verona and a key crossing on the river Mincio.
Girolamo Brusoni states that the Venetians had dug trenches in Villabuona after taking over the place, but this is denied by the Mantuan historian Federico Amedei, who insists that no fortifications were present, and that the village was a mere hamlet with no real defenses.
The arrival of French cavalry and Mantuan volunteers led by the Chevalier de la Valette won the cappelletti some reprieve, but the Franco-Venetian troops were eventually driven back to their defensive positions in the hamlet of Villabuona.
[8] Pietro Giovanni Capriata's account suggests the arrival of a large group of German soldiers in Imperial pay was crucial in turning the tide and forcing the French and Venetians to retreat to the hamlet after the initial engagement with the Croat troops.
[11] Canobio states instead that the Chevalier de la Valette was captured during an ill-fated cavalry sortie out of the fortified farmhouse, as he tried to link up with more French and Venetian reinforcements advancing at that time from Valeggio.