'We owe Napoli one!'
Liam Coyle has explained why Liverpool U19s have all the motivation they need for their final UEFA Youth League group game against Napoli on Tuesday.
The Reds and Paris Saint-Germain are locked together on 10 points ahead of the last round of fixtures, with Barry Lewtas’ team in top spot by virtue of a better head-to-head record.
The group winners will automatically progress to the tournament’s knockout stages next year while the runners-up must compete in the play-offs, so a victory will see Liverpool go straight through to the last 16.
Ahead of the 1pm GMT kick-off at the Totally Wicked Stadium in St Helens, Coyle opened up on the determination within the squad to seal qualification - especially after the controversial stoppage-time equaliser that denied the Reds all three points in Naples...
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On the final group game with Napoli…
We are really looking forward to it. I think we have performed well in the youth Champions League so far, getting some points under our belts and only one loss, so we need to win to top the group and avoid the play-offs. We definitely owe them one after what happened at their place!
On the challenge posed by the visitors…
We know what we are up against. They are not an easy side to play against and they are big, strong and very physical so we have got to stand up to that challenge first, then hopefully our football will do the talking.
On the unfortunate 3-2 defeat by PSG in their last group tie…
I thought we deserved at least a draw but it wasn’t to be. It could have gone either way and there were chances at either end and the game was quite open. We were a bit unlucky really but they beat us on their home patch like we did to them. We know we just need a win on Tuesday and we will be through to the last 16.
On how much he enjoys playing for Liverpool in Europe…
I love travelling away to the European games alongside the first team and then we get the chance to watch the first team play as well. It’s a great experience; I missed out last season through injury so for me personally, playing in the competition this year is brilliant.
On the qualities of the U19s team…
We have got a good team. We feel we should be topping the group with the ability we have got in the team so we just need to keep it going and perform well against Napoli. We have the likes of Curtis Jones and Rafael Camacho in the side, who have come down from Melwood and they are like our luxury players. We expect them to produce the goods and get the goals. We stick together as one team and work hard for each other.