S.C. Maritimo 0-0 Newcastle - Europa League match highlights

Just some brief highlights of the match from last night for you all to ponder over now, and believe me a brief look is all you need!

It was quite a boring match that had a pre-season feel about it. There were quite a few goal attempts though in fairness but I get the feeling that both teams could still be playing now and it would still be 0-0.

I don't know an awful lot about S.C. Maritimo in fairness, but I was interested to hear the ESPN commentary team say during the match that their coach, Pedro Martins, stuck with a pretty much full strength side that mirrored the team that had held Sporting Lisbon to a 1-1 draw the previous weekend.

To be honest, when you look at it like that, our kids and reserve players didn't do too badly against a strong Portuguese outfit. I'd have preferred it if there were less youth and reserve players used as the team last night had hardly played together, but needs must and I guess that is the price that has to be paid for having a small squad with a whole host of extra games to contend with.

Next up for us, in terms of the Europa League anyway, is a home tie with Bordeaux who beat Club Brugge 4-0 last night and look to be the team in Group D to beat if you can take one matchday as the benchmark. That game is in a fortnight and is once again live on ESPN.

Now, back to domestic matters, and Norwich on Sunday.