Source: Liverpool_Echo
Benfica 5 Everton FC 0 - David Prentice's verdict
Everton FC supporters[LNB]EVERTON'S Europa League adventure is stretching their squad resources to breaking point.[LNB]So is it worth it?[LNB]The answer was forcefully delivered on the curving Coca-Cola Stand of the Stadium of Light last night, and in every other nook and cranny of this spectacular footballing stage.[LNB]Everton and Evertonians love their European football.[LNB]Six thousand of them crammed into this famous football arena for the most eagerly awaited of their group games, but they were the only ones who performed.[LNB]It goes without saying they will have found nothing to enjoy from last night's hammering.[LNB]The only consolation is that the Europa League format means they will have other European opportunities to savour.[LNB]Everton have had these European meltdowns before.[LNB]But unlike the Dynamo Bucharest and Fiorentina hammerings, the group format of the Europa Lague means this result, though, humbling is not fatal.[LNB]But the major concern is the implications it will have on Everton's looming fixture list.[LNB]There's no doubt Everton lost this on the treatment table.[LNB]But there was no excuse for some of the wretched defending Everton produced.[LNB]After their much publicised double figure casualty list, Everton endured one more blow on the eve of kick-off.[LNB]Leighton Baines' injury made it a full first XI of senior stars either injured or unavailable - and handed a debut to young Irish defender Seamus Coleman.[LNB]The 21-year-old has only appeared on a senior substitutes' bench once this season - and that only five days ago - yet here was stepping out at one of the most imposing arenas in world football.[LNB]The parallels with club legend Colin Harvey were obvious.
