Boss Andrea Sottil couldn’t hide his delight at the team’s 2-1 victory over Leipzig on Tuesday evening.
“The result always matters. Winning is always a good thing, but beyond the result, we had a good first half. We defended well and we’re perfecting what we’re trying out in training.
“The second half also went well. So many young players came on with the right mentality. We carved out plenty of chances besides the goals. It would be fair to say the refereeing was typical of pre-season. We made our presence felt in the box and we were precise. We’re growing from game to game.
“Playing in these types of games gives you confidence to keep carrying out the job. We have to manage the phases of the game. You can’t always attack. You need to perform overall, which is what the players are doing. The young players have quality. [Vivaldo] Semedo has improved so much thanks to a year of hard work. He has good technique and strength. He scored a great goal, which was also down to [Lorenzo] Lucca and [Oier] Zarraga. [Domingos] Quina did well and [Etienne] Camara is settling in.
“We’re completing our squad here. Christian Kabasele is a hugely experienced defender and he’ll really help us out. He already knows some of the lads from Watford, which is good because it’s a long league campaign and we’ll need everyone.”