NewsYouth League preview: 'Playing away in Europe is always tough - we need to be at our best'

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By Steve Hunter

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Barry Lewtas is looking forward to seeing how his Liverpool side deal with the unique challenge of RB Leipzig in the UEFA Youth League.

The young Reds travel to Germany to play their third fixture of this season's tournament on Wednesday afternoon, having beaten Bologna and drawn with AC Milan so far.

The encounter at Stadion am Cottaweg is a 3pm BST kick-off and can be watched live on LFCTV and LFCTV GO.

Read on for Lewtas' preview of matchday three in the Youth League…

On a busy week ahead for the young Reds after the international break…

It does seem quite a while since we last played but we have had a good run of games before that, real good games. We've played Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United so far and AC Milan with the U19s. The result against United was a positive one after a real tough run of games, so we showed lots of character.

On Tyler Morton's superb winner in a tight game against Man United…

I think it was always going to hinge on a goal like that. Fair play to them as well, but I felt the game was going to be decided by a mistake. Obviously their goalkeeper has played it out and we pressed well and then Tyler took his chance. The real pleasing thing for me was I just felt on that particular day I never felt it was us who was going to make the mistake. We've been strong and we've been quite mean defensively and not given goals away cheaply. It was pleasing and I thought we saw the game out quite well in the end.

On another challenging week for the players with games against RB Leipzig and Everton…

A busy week but really exciting for us. We have games against real good opponents and we know in these next few days we will be up against two really good teams. But one game at a time and Leipzig is certainly the focus for us.

On how pleased he has been with the performances so far in the UEFA Youth League…

I've been pleased. Opening up the first game with a draw in AC Milan, that was always going to be a tough one, there's no question about that. The game wasn't anything different to what we thought as we knew AC Milan would be good, which they certainly were. I felt at times we had to do really well to stay in the game, we had our moments, but an away point was a good one.

Bologna were a good team, so to win 2-1 we were pleased with that. There were certain times during that game I thought maybe we could have finished the game off, but we didn't manage to do that and they stayed in it and had their chances as well. There has been some real good experiences mixed with some real good performances and moments. We are hoping we are starting to click and get it together so our performances can be a bit more consistent.

On the challenge of RB Leipzig…

I'm expecting them to be another good team and they have a real clear identity of how they play from the first team down. So we know how much of a challenge it's going to be when we have the ball and how they are going to press us. It's a really exciting one because I'm looking forward to seeing how the lads solve the problems that they are going to face. We are expecting a real tough game. I've watched their two games in the competition so far and they have played well. It's important for us that we know away from home in Europe is always tough and we need to be at our best.

On wanting his team to give it their all and relish representing the club in Europe…

It's a fantastic opportunity for the players in terms of performing well in what is a prestigious, top competition. Being able to pit your wits against some of the best players in Europe is a fantastic opportunity. But at the same time, when you are given this opportunity you've got to take it. We want to make sure we perform to our best both individually and collectively – that will be the challenge. But I do believe if we can do that, we are a match for anyone. We need to make sure our performance is a touch more consistent over the whole 90 minutes because we've been really good in spells so far and that's what has got us the four points so far, but we need to push and do more.

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This article has been automatically translated and, while all reasonable efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, some errors in translation are possible. Please refer to the original English-language version of the article for the official version.