Babbel's side were valiant in front of a rapturous home crowd at Bankwest Stadium, but eventually fell to a late winner from the Championship sides' star Spaniard, Pablo Hernandez.

But it was 21-year-old Aussie midfielder Baccus that caught the eye of the Wanderers coach, who singled him out for elusive praise after the match.

"What a pass,” the ex-Liverpool and Bayern Munich defender said.

“If Messi was doing this then people would talk 14 days about this. So, a fantastic ball.”

It was Baccus' threaded through-ball to Kwame Yeboah that earned the Wanderers an equaliser minutes after half-time and raised the atmosphere in Western Sydney's new home-ground to fever-pitch.

PLUS...

On the sidelines: Epic Western Sydney Wanderers vs Leeds United gallery

Bankwest Stadium finally turned into Wanderland last night as the RBB and Western Sydney Wanderers arrived at their new home after three years in the wilderness. Oh and they played Leeds United too...holding them to a draw for 95 minutes until Pablo Hernandez sealed the win with a solo effort on goal after earlier strikes by Mateusz Bogusz for Leeds and Kweame Yeboah for WSW. check out our epic gallery for the action on and off the field.

But after pushing Leeds to the final whistle - a side managed by renowned Pep Guardiola-mentor Marcelo Bielsa, who came within a whisker of Premier League promotion last season - Babbel was ecstatic with the progress the Wanderers are making.

“Mitch (Duke), how hard he was working against these top defenders, always trying to hold the ball so we can breathe again," he continued.

"Daniel Wilmering on the left-side is only 18 years old but he was playing fantastic. It was a great team performance. Of course, we did mistakes but we were there for each other, that's why we had luck on our side.

"This game is gold for us, from the pace, from the mentality and how we played... it is gold for us."