Manchester United defender excited to be playing in Champions League and not watching on the telly

15 September 2010 11:16
Manchester United defender Chris Smalling admitted he was delighted to make his Champions League debut, rather than watching the big games from his living room.[LNB]Smalling, who officially joined Manchester United from Fulham in the summer, impressed alongside Rio Ferdinand in the disappointing 0-0 draw against Rangers.[LNB]'It's one of the biggest competitions a player can play in and I thoroughly enjoyed it,' he said.[LNB] Heads up: Chris Smalling jumps high during United's clash with Rangers[LNB]'I've watched so many of these games on television so to be part of one at a club like United is fantastic.'[LNB]Case for the defence: Chris Smalling[LNB]Smalling added on MUTV: 'Unfortunately, we just couldn't break them down and everyone is disappointed with the result.[LNB]'The next game against Valencia is going to be very important now. Hopefully we can move on quickly from this result, take the positives from it and score a few more goals in our next few games.'[LNB]United great Ryan Giggs also voiced United's frustration after the game, as the 2008 European Cup winners failed to find a way past the Scottish champions.[LNB]'It was a frustrating night,' Giggs said. 'Rangers got everyone behind the ball and it was up to us to break them down, but we didn't manage to do that.[LNB]'We couldn't get our rhythm going in the first half and we were giving the ball away. It's tough when teams get ten men behind the ball - we've usually found a way past in the end, but tonight we just didn't have that bit of quality in the final third.'[LNB] Antonio Valencia will recover from horrific ankle injury, insist Manchester United Manchester United 0 Rangers 0: Fergie's flops hit the wall as Reds are held in Champions League opener MANCHESTER UNITED FC

Source: Daily_Mail