EX FACTOR
While the first-leg shellacking Arsenal dished out to PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands meant that Wednesday night’s return leg was predictably low on drama, there was at least one moment of highly performative nonsense for fans at the Emirates to enjoy. Handed a rare start by Mikel Arteta, Oleksandr Zinchenko repaid his manager by firing his side ahead with a terrific strike but very pointedly refused to celebrate his first ever Bigger Cup goal for reasons that initially seemed to baffle his own teammates, PSV’s players, both sets of supporters and anyone like Football Daily with so little going on in their life that they’d tuned in to watch this 90-minute long foregone conclusion unfold on TV.
It later turned out that Oleksandr had actually made 14 appearances for PSV during a loan spell eight years ago and while his resolve not to celebrate his excellent opener out of respect for his sort-of former side is to be commended, even the handful of PSV’s travelling fans who had some vague recollection of his time with them almost certainly wouldn’t have cared if he’d cartwheeled the length of the pitch in delight. He had, after all, just put his side 8-1 up on aggregate in a tie that would eventually finish 9-3. Pulling one back for PSV 12 minutes later, Ivan Perisic also added to the gaiety of the evening, rushing to extract the ball from the net, before sprinting back to the halfway line in the traditional David Platt style in a manner that screamed “Just six more lads, we can do this!” Next up for Arsenal are the reigning Bigger Cup champions, a team Arteta says his side are “very capable” of beating until such time as they inevitably don’t because, well … they’re Real Madrid and as Atlético discovered once again on Wednesday night, no matter how well you play against them, actually knocking them out of this competition is more difficult than catching fog in a net.
Meanwhile in Birmingham, Aston Villa’s progress to a quarter-final appointment with Paris Saint-Germain could scarcely have been more straightforward. Going into the second leg of their tie against Club Brugge with a two-goal cushion they probably didn’t deserve, Unai Emery’s side spanked another three past their Belgian visitors without reply to set up a meeting with a club with which the Spaniard has unfinished business. One can scarcely imagine a more PSG exit from Bigger Cup than one engineered by one of their current players, Marco Asensio, and a much-maligned former manager who unfairly became a laughing stock in Paris during PSG’s recent bantz era. If Villa do conquer the French champions and advance to Bigger Cup semi-finals, neither man is likely to suffer Zinchenko-esque levels of reticence when it comes to celebrating.
LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE
Join Scott Murray at 8pm (all times GMT) for hot Europa League coverage of Tottenham Hotspur or Spurs 4-2 AZ (4-3 aggregate) in their last-16 second leg, while Daniel Harris will be on deck for Manchester United 2-1 Real Sociedad (3-2 aggregate).
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“We’re always saying we’re proud in the women’s game that we’re very inclusive but somehow that is starting to slip away a bit. If we don’t act really strongly right now then it might be too late” – Vivianne Miedema airs concerns about the increase in abuse directed at female players in this rather good interview by Tom Garry.
“Now that VAR has found a new way to ruin football, this time by relitigating penalty shootouts while they are ongoing, is there any point in actually playing out matches to their conclusion any more? Maybe the powers that be can just feed all the names into a computer and at the start of each season, Gianni Infantino can just announce who has won what during a televised ‘spectacular’ from a gaudy bolthole, while Coldplay noodle away blandly in the background. It would certainly help the issue of player fatigue. The end game (pun intended) of Football Daily’s long-running Stop Football campaign is in sight” – Derek McGee.
“I wish you and other assorted punditry would desist from labelling saved penalty kicks as ‘missed’. If the goalie makes a stop it’s not like the taker skied it over the bar or slashed it wide. Give the goalie credit and move on. I admit it’s a minor quibble, but at 80 years of age reading the Football Daily is a highlight of my day and … my God how the mighty have fallen” – Guy Robert (and no others).
Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s prizeless letter o’ the day winner is … Derek McGee. Terms and conditions for our competitions can be viewed here.
RECOMMENDED LISTENING
Get your ears around the latest Football Weekly Extra, in which Max Rushden, Barry Glendenning, Nicky Bandini, Mark Langdon and Sid Lowe discuss Madrid and much more besides.
