DE GEA: MY ADVICE FOR BENFICA GOALKEEPER SVILAR

David De Gea understands the pressures of playing UEFA Champions League football at 18, which is why the Manchester United goalkeeper has sympathy for Benfica's Mile Svilar.

The Belgian teenager became the youngest goalkeeper in the competition’s history two weeks ago, when he started against the Reds at the tender age of 18 years, one month and 22 days.
The previous record had been set by the now legendary Iker Casillas back on 15 September 1999, with his outing for Real Madrid against Olympiacos at 18 years, three months and 26 days.
Unfortunately for Svilar, his night of history ultimately ended in disaster after he carried Marcus Rashford’s in-swinging cross into his own net to gift United a vital 1-0 away win in Group A.
De Gea made a point of consoling the teenage stopper immediately after the final whistle, when the Benfica starlet showed admirable character by apologising to the home fans and conducting post-match interviews for the media. With an attitude like that, he is sure to go a long way in football.
David experienced a similar baptism of fire at former club Atletico Madrid when he registered his club debut in a Champions League away at FC Porto in September 2009, coming on a substitute for the injured Roberto Gago on 26 minutes in a game that was lost 2-0 to Jose Mourinho’s old side.
Ahead of Svilar’s Benfica visiting Old Trafford on Tuesday night, De Gea has extended his support to the promising goalkeeper and offered valuable words of advice for the future.
“Yes, I did have sympathy for him,” David explained in Saturday’s edition of United Review. “But then that’s the life of a goalkeeper for you. It can be tough especially when you are so young and make a big mistake – but in the end you just have to live with it and learn from the errors that you make. He’s just a young lad and he’s only just starting out his career and I’m sure he’ll be fine.
“The main thing is, if you do make a mistake, you should try to quickly forget about it and just keep going. At the end of the day when you are so young you get used to any mistakes you make and you just have to cope with them. You have to work very hard and enjoy what you do.”
Mourinho has also offered his support to Svilar, telling MUTV on Monday: “He is very good. In the next match after us, he kept a clean sheet and the same again at the weekend. He has a good personality and is a good goalkeeper.”
MUTV’s live build-up to United v Benfica begins at 17:45 GMT.