| Listening to John McGinn reflect on Aston Villa’s win over Young Boys after the final whistle on Tuesday night, it was clear how much playing in Bigger Cup meant to him. As a young player making his name with St Mirren and Hibs, occasionally playing on the plastic pitches at Hamilton, Falkirk and Kilmarnock, the midfielder hoped that one day he might move on to more prestigious, metaphorically greener astro. And while making his Bigger Cup debut in a stadium with a name ripe for schoolboy sniggering against a struggling side is hardly the stuff of young footballers’ dreams, you can only beat the team in front of you while burning the skin from your knees and elbows on the pitch underneath you and Villa accomplished that in fine style. Their win was due in no small part to another masterstroke from Unai Emery’s hirsute assistant coach Austin McSet-Piece, some schoolboy Young Boys defending and the latest strike from unlikely goal machine Amadou Onana. “I’m sure we’ll come up against stronger opposition in the upcoming games,” said Mystic McGinn, about 30 minutes before Villa’s next Bigger Cup opponents set about spanking nine goals past Dinamo Zagreb, a tally that could have been higher if Bayern Munich hadn’t had two efforts ruled out for offside. Marking the occasion of his 50th appearance for the German side, Harry Kane celebrated with his 50th goal, before chipping in with his 51st, 52nd and 53rd for good measure as the Bavarian side ran amok against opposition who had pegged them back to 3-2 after going three down. Michael Olise also bagged his first goals for the club, while Raphaël Guerreira scored the pick of a bunch by knocking in Jamal Musiala’s sweet chested pass on the half-volley. A man with a lot of fairly recent experience in the field of standing pitchside watching a team he manages get battered, Vincent Kompany looked almost apologetic as he consoled his opposite number, Sergej Jakirovic, at the final whistle. While Villa, Bayern, Liverpool, Real Madrid and assorted other members of Europe’s elite were duking it out in Bigger Cup, Manchester United were forced to slum it in Fizzy Cup, a state of affairs Erik ten Hag almost certainly didn’t envisage when he took over at Old Trafford with a view to restoring his team’s place in the world order. Damned when he doesn’t win and now damned even when he does because their opponents were League One side It’s Only Barnsley, the Dutchman was confident enough of victory to pick Antony and was rewarded when the lesser-spotted Brazilian winger scored one of the seven goals United put past their visitors without reply. “We were 100% concentrated and we certainly played very good,” said Ten Hag. “I think it was enjoyable to watch and also the fans, they liked it and appreciated it.” Whether the fans who were forced to sit through a shoot-out featuring 34 spot-kicks between Preston and Fulham found the experience enjoyable to watch is anyone’s guess, but one suspects even travelling Fulham supporters almost certainly appreciated it when Ryan Ledson finally stepped up to put everyone out of their misery by sending Preston through to the next round. | 