Maddison’s Enjoyment During Maiden European Journey

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Maddison’s Enjoyment During Maiden European Journey

Whether it be media duties or facing opponents that are relatively unknown quantities, midfielder James Maddison says he is thrilled to be experiencing European football at the age of 24.

2020-11-26T09:00:00.000Z

by Richard Mellor

Published

26 Nov, 2020

Maddison’s Enjoyment During Maiden European Journey

Whether it be media duties or facing opponents that are relatively unknown quantities, midfielder James Maddison says he is thrilled to be experiencing European football at the age of 24.

Richard Mellor

2020-11-26T09:00:00.000Z

Maddison’s Enjoyment During Maiden European Journey

Whether it be media duties or facing opponents that are relatively unknown quantities, midfielder James Maddison says he is thrilled to be experiencing European football at the age of 24.

Richard Mellor

2020-11-26T09:00:00.000Z

Maddison’s Enjoyment During Maiden European Journey

Whether it be media duties or facing opponents that are relatively unknown quantities, midfielder James Maddison says he is thrilled to be experiencing European football at the age of 24.

Richard Mellor

2020-11-26T09:00:00.000Z

Maddison’s Enjoyment During Maiden European Journey

Whether it be media duties or facing opponents that are relatively unknown quantities, midfielder James Maddison says he is thrilled to be experiencing European football at the age of 24.

Richard Mellor

2020-11-26T09:00:00.000Z

- James Maddison reveals his thoughts behind his first campaign in Europe as a professional footballer- The Leicester City star has scored twice in three UEFA Europa League matches already this season- Maddison spoke ahead of Thursday night’s Group G showdown with SC Braga in northern Portugal

Maddison has already notched twice in the UEFA Europa League, grabbing his debut goal against Ukrainian side Zorya Luhansk last month, before wrapping up a 4-0 success over Thursday’s opponents SC Braga.

Eager to further his footballing knowledge, Maddison knows playing in Europe is a valuable learning curve for his development – not least playing against sides that the Foxes would not face in domestic competition.

“This is my first taste of European football, so I’m still learning, I’m still gauging it out myself,” Maddison said.

“I’ve watched football for as long as I can remember, so I’ve always watched Champions League nights, Europa League nights.

“This is the first season at the age of 23, now 24, that I’ve been able to experience it for myself. It’s brilliant. You get to do stuff like this – press conferences in Europe that you don’t get every week in the Premier League as players.

“You come to these fantastic stadiums that you wouldn’t play at in the Premier League. We play the same teams week in, week out in the Premier League.”

Maddison labelled competing in the Europa League as ‘a different challenge’ for him personally, insisting there will be no alteration to City’s focused preparations prior to the fixture at Estádio Municipal de Braga.

“On the football side of things, tactically it’s very different,” he continued. “You come up against a lot of different outfits. One of the toughest challenges that we face is you play against teams and individual players that you don’t really know much about.

“In the Premier League, I’ve watched it for years, I’ve played in it for a few years now, and you kind of know what you’re up against. You still do your homework every week, and we still prepare with the analysts, but you kind of know what you’re up against.

“You see them week in, week out, whether you’re playing against them or watching them, so that gives you a different challenge to face, but it’s a good one – one I’m relishing.”

Maddison says City’s position at the top of Group G is a reward for their commitment to winning, and should they emerge from this week’s fixture with all three points, they could qualify for the Round of 32.

“It’s a case of getting the balance right,” he explained. “You don’t want to look too far ahead and think: ‘If we win this, we can relax a little bit’, because that’s the wrong mindset. It’s not the right mentality to have.

“If you start letting those thoughts creep in a little bit, you can take your eye off the ball without even meaning to. We’ll go into this game trying to win it and know that we’re in a good position.

“We’re only there because we’ve got ourselves there. We’ve won three out of three and we’ve worked hard for those games, and that’s with squad rotation and different players playing.

“We’ve got a brilliant squad, so whoever the manager picks, it’s going to be a team that goes out there and tries to win the game and solidify our place at the top, which we’re currently holding.”

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