Rafa Benitez:
“An opportunity for some players to play who were not playing, alongside players who have been playing some games.
“This balance was giving a little bit of match fitness and also the desire of the players to show their level, so this mix of players, I think, was good in the end.
“It’s important for us and for the players also, to feel that the competition has to be good for everyone.
“So they have to go out on the pitch and try to do their best, it doesn’t matter the competition, it doesn’t matter the game, and it doesn’t matter the position.
“That is a key factor if we want to be strong and to manage the number of games we will play this year.
“Obviously we wanted to win and we did.
“It was a game in which we changed players, we gave an opportunity to different players and we had to win and go through, we did it with two great goals and a clean sheet, so it is all very positive.
“I’m always happy when any player plays well, but in this case, Gouffran has been working very hard from the beginning.
“He didn’t know what would happen in the future but he was still working hard.
“ I’m really pleased for him and he is scoring great goals now, especially from volleys, so that is good.”