Youngsters Lee Peltier, Danny Guthrie and Gabriel Paletta made their Champions League debuts for us during the 3-2 loss to Galatasaray in the Champions League. I think it’s great that our youngsters can get a taste of top class European football already and I can honestly see some great talent coming through in the years to come.
Boss Rafa Benitez was dissapointed with our defensive errors during the match and though that was the cause of our loss.
“We paid for bad mistakes – you cannot expect to win if you make mistakes like that at this level,” said Benitez.
“I always felt it was going to be a difficult game for the players – they knew they were already group winners and the job had been done.
“So it was more difficult to stage a comeback in such circumstances, as you would in a cup final.”
He added: “I wanted to see my players doing well but also to realise that there are younger team-mates who are waiting for their chance,”
“I have rested some senior players, because we have such a busy next couple of months with lots of games. I wanted to see what futures there are for the young players and to be able to plan for that future.”
It’s a credit to us that we have the chance to play our youngsters in such a high profile fixture while clubs such as Barcelona and the scum united battle for their survival in the competition.
CMON BENIFICA
