Atletico 4 - 5 NoPain (365992191)

The 56276 fans in attendance at Invalicabile were roasting in the hot sun. Teemu Leiniö was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Mikael Pålsson and Klemens Kutter. Atletico had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Starters: Santella - Lavaud, Moreira, Reinbergs - Girard, Scavo, Săndulescu, Meretei, Pihajoki - Terroso, Segatto.

NoPain tactics involved an interesting 2-5-3 combination. Lineup: Triuzzi - Şişcanu, García - Dunn, Cavallari, Blok, Wachholz, Karaļuks - Fantozzi, Commissaris, Sebastiani.

It was an obvious ambition of NoPain to use their ability at attacking on the flanks. A mistake by the home side's central defence after 18 minutes allowed C. Fantozzi to score for NoPain. The scoreboard now read 0 - 1. Several players seemed a little dazed by the warm weather, and were repeatedly tricked by the clever and agile C. Fantozzi. Atletico's T. Pihajoki almost tied things up with 24 minutes played after breaking through on the right, but his shot deflected off the post. After 29 minutes, Atletico sent a free kick in high over the penalty box. In what looked like a well-rehearsed move, the ball was headed backwards and reached M. Segatto, who had plenty of space to place a well aimed shot - 1 - 1. Atletico's A. Lavaud refused to leave the field after injuring his achilles tendon after 33 minutes. NoPain's C. Fantozzi managed to lose the defenders as he advanced down the right wing and scored, putting the visitors ahead after 38 minutes. 1 - 2. The crowd roared in delight as D. Săndulescu finished off a spectacular series of passes through the middle to even the score for Atletico 40 minutes into the match. 2 - 2. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave L. Terroso from Atletico a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 41 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! 42 minutes in, Atletico's D. Săndulescu received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. One of many good crosses from S. Dunn on the wing was received and skillfully taken care of by G. Sebastiani, who scored for NoPain. 2 - 3 43 minutes in, and Atletico were able to score the equalising goal to make it 3 - 3 when D. Săndulescu picked up a pass coming in from the right and chipped it past the away team's keeper. It was 3 - 3 at the break. Possession in this half belonged to Atletico, who controlled the ball 54 percent of the time.

The guests took the lead 52 minutes into the match, after a right-side attack resulted in V. Şişcanu scoring to make it 3 - 4. Although the whole team were struggling to impress, Atletico's V. Reinbergs was singled out as being the problem as he was called off the pitch after 52 minutes. M. Malagoli was given a chance to change things around. M. Segatto wasn't much help defensively. His energy-consuming forward runs proved quite costly in the oppressive heat. With 72 minutes played, NoPain put themselves up 3 - 5 after an attack from the right, caused by a defensive blunder. The scorer was A. Wachholz. The players of NoPain now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. There was concern in the stands when, at the 75 minute mark, Atletico's G. Girard hit the ground hard, but he refused the attention of the trainer and rejoined his teammates on the pitch. The home crowd was given a certain amount of consolation when L. Terroso scored after a brilliant midfield combination through the centre, reducing the lead to 4 - 5. It was obvious that NoPain had instructions to attack on the wings instead of in the middle. Atletico enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 58 percent of possession.

Atletico's top performer was clearly M. Segatto. R. Santella on the other hand, had a terrible day. G. Sebastiani performed admirably for NoPain. F. García was a disappointment, however. The match ends 4 - 5.