“The Newcastle coach commented on the upcoming Champions League match with Benfica and the state of the squad ahead of the important match.”, — write: football.ua
The Newcastle coach commented on the upcoming Champions League match with Benfica and the state of the squad ahead of the important match.
Eddie Gau, getty images October 21, 2025, 1:25 p.m
“I’m really looking forward to this challenge – I think it will be a great match. Mourinho is someone I really admire, because we’ve met in the Premier League before. As a young coach, I really admired the teams he built, especially at Chelsea.”
Gau also drew attention to the importance of home matches:
“We are very eager to get out of the Champions League group. We understand how important home games are. So after the disappointment of the Barcelona game, we are looking forward to this game.”
Before the game with Benfica, Gau talked about the condition of key players:
“Sandro is a bit sick so he will be unsure before the game. We will give him every opportunity. He was not in training today. He is such an important player so we will use all the hours we have.”
On the playing style of Benfica and coach Jose Mourinho:
“He’s someone I admire a lot… A visionary and someone who broke stereotypes about how to run things differently… It’s always a good opportunity for any club to play against one of his teams.”
“I’ve heard Jose’s words about Newcastle and I totally agree. Everyone connected with the club has great things to say about Sir Bobby and the part he’s played in his career. It’s really good to hear. But when the game starts, the queue will be over. We want to win. We’re desperate for points. It’s going to be a competitive game between two big clubs.”
The match between Newcastle and Benfica will take place on Tuesday, October 21. Starts at 22:00 Kyiv time.