Catalunya 0 - 3 va (351872042)

Dark skies made the crowd of 50187 at Catalunya Arena a little nervous, but the rain held off. Bo Adams was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Barnett MacCartair and Robin Pilwald. Catalunya decided to use a 4-4-2 set up. Lineup: Reinares - Campos, Corredor, Utrera, Espinal - Rahman, Santander, Fernández, Chapín - Mellado, Vives.

A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for va. Starters: Leiva - Cătană, Deville, Galiu - Grytten, Pamidorau, Mitjavila, Latina, Zorzano - Apollonov, Cannizzaro.

va's N. Zorzano gave the visitors a 0 - 1 lead after 16 minutes with a superb strike from the right. The home crowd cheered when, after 19 minutes, A. Galiu's charge up the middle resulted in the keeper making one of his best saves of the day. va's A. Galiu was shown a yellow card after 20 minutes for slicing down an opponent. Due to a severely mistimed tackle, A. Corredor of Catalunya spent some time on the grass writhing in agony before he could get up and continue the game. 24 minutes into the game, C. Mellado came close to levelling the score with a dangerous shot from the centre of the area that went just over the bar. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave N. Zorzano from va a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 29 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! The home crowd was not impressed when A. Pamidorau came in from the right, shooting hard to score after 32 minutes. va were now up 0 - 2. After the ball was lifted in from the left, I. Apollonov was on his own in the home side's penalty area and should have scored after 37 minutes, but missed, probably due to lack of concentration. With 38 minutes gone, a long pass from the defence of Catalunya resulted in a counterattack that set A. Utrera free through the middle, but the keeper made a spectacular diving save. 0 - 2 was the halftime score. va had most of the ball, with 56 percent of possession.

Catalunya's T. Rahman showed his experience after 53 minutes, as he expertly set himself up to take advantage of a rebound off the crossbar, but his shot was tipped harmlessly out of the way. With 70 minutes played, the Catalunya coach decided a substitution may help turn the game around. I. Oviedo came on, A. Fernández had to leave the fray. P. Latina left the field with a smile on his face as he was substituted 75 minutes into the game, as his team was in the lead. M. Brunisholz was the replacement. With 82 minutes played, M. Cannizzaro nearly put the visitors another one up as he broke through in the middle and fired from just outside the box, but his shot passed just over the bar. Some fine movement on the left led to a va goal after 86 minutes, making it 0 - 3. I. Apollonov was noted down as the scorer. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by va, with 57 percent of the ball.

Catalunya's best player was C. Mellado. However, A. Corredor made a disastrous appearance. Most important va player was I. Apollonov. On the other hand, N. Zorzano's play was disheartening. The match ends 0 - 3.