Ben Wilkinson says he and his Under-19s side are looking forward to every League Phase fixture in our UEFA Youth League draw, with each an exciting opponent that will provide different opportunities for his players to develop.
It is the Lead Coach’s second season in charge of our European team, who will be looking to emulate our 2024/25 campaign charge, which saw us progress to the quarter-finals of the prestigious competition.
And with Gameweek One looming, we sat down with Wilkinson to get his thoughts on the draw and our upcoming Youth League campaign.
“I think we’ve got a great draw,” began the Lead Coach.
“I think every game is going to be really, really difficult. Every game to me is like in the old format of a knockout game; they all matter, and that is where we find out the most about our players.
“So it’s a really exciting draw, but from a coach’s point of view, we can’t kind of look past what the next game looks like and preparing the boys for that.”
And that game will see us take on Napoli on Thursday 18 September, with kick-off at the Joie Stadium scheduled for 15:00 (UK).
Our remaining fixtures will see us face AS Monaco (A), Villarreal (A), Borussia Dortmund (H), Bayer Leverkusen (H) and Real Madrid (A), mirroring the first six or eight UEFA Champions League fixtures Pep Guardiola and his team will play.
Wilkinson emphasised that these sides are some of the very best his players will face to date and will be ready to adapt in the moment as each game plays out.
“The level of games, I’d say, are the best you can get in European youth football, and because of the new format of the competition, you’re faced with that from the start, so that’s really exciting,” said Wilkinson.
“I think you get posed tactical questions that are different to what you see in England. Teams are really well coached.
“We played one or two teams last year who you could see they did a lot of work training-wise, and the players were carrying it out to a tee.
“So it stretches you, it challenges you. You have to think out of the box, and I think it also places the demand on you to be able to adapt in-game to what you see going on in terms of what the opposition are trying to achieve and how you can counteract that.”
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