| While Aston Villa showed a deficit of class by gouging their supporters when it came to the admission fee, the club got pretty much everything else spot on ahead of last night’s win over Bayern Munich. Off the pitch, their Big Cup Boys of 1982 were hosted at an official function held to honour their historic achievement, while their recently departed comrade Gary Shaw was remembered on the front of yesterday’s matchday programme. In another classy touch, the former striker was also listed one last time on a team-sheet, his name appearing at the bottom of the list of current squad of Villa players trying to emulate the achievements of he and his teammates. Having paid through the nose for their tickets, the home fans were absolutely determined to get their money’s worth and with the visit of such exalted opponents, Villa Park was rocking to the kind of raucous din you just don’t get for the visit of the likes of Fulham. Following a tentative start that suggested they were playing the occasion rather than the game, it took a disallowed Pau Torres goal on 22 minutes for Villa’s players to realise Bayern were in fact fallible and they went on to win courtesy of another supersub Jhon Durán’s goal-of-the-season contender, as well as several breathtaking saves from Emiliano Martínez, who with each passing match appears to grow at least two extra tentacles. “It’s the loudest Villa Park I’ve heard since I joined the club, that’s for sure,” said the Argentinian keeper after the game. “It was hurting my ears at some points. It’s a club that’s moving forward. That’s the main reason why I want to stay at this football club.” A club that are moving backwards, Manchester United are in Portugal for a comparatively low-key Bigger Vase adventure tonight as they try to bounce back from Sunday’s embarrassment at home to Tottenham, and it seems inconceivable that their owners haven’t noticed how Villa have been utterly transformed under Unai Emery. Appointed before Emery, Erik ten Hag continues to bleat incessantly about needing more time and of player knack, while the Spaniard leads Villa from strength to strength, just getting on with his job without so much as mentioning the rotten run of knack with which he has had to contend. “As always when we are not winning, we are very disappointed and we are also mad; mad with ourselves and especially when you lose a game like Sunday,” said Ten Hag before United’s match against Porto. “We are mad and from the madness we have to get motivation and go on to the next game.” And while the Dutchman may have channelled his inner Howard Beale by announcing that he and his players are as mad as hell and not going to take this any more, one suspects it is a sentiment that is increasingly echoed by the high-performance boffins and marginal gains enthusiasts who currently stalk the Old Trafford corridors of power. | 