CA 1 - 3 L_P_A (367460271)

13293 spectators had found their way to Estadio Ramon de Carranza, despite the heavy rain. Olli Pitkäaho was the appointed referee. CA started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Salaun - Ballesteros, Vulin, Egues - Toro, Della Giovanna, Cifer, Sánchez Ochoa, Muntada - Abdollahi, André.

L_P_A decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. Lineup: Bronsart - Serra, Sevilla, Canoura - Faraglia, Della Bianca, Butseraen, Eaves, Johansson - Balaguer, Bergamaschi.

CA mostly ignored the flanks in favour of their ability to attack in the middle. The boggy pitch disrupted the game, especially for technical players like R. Serra. F. Della Giovanna could have put CA into the lead after 33 minutes, but the free kick went just wide. CA had a good opportunity to take the lead as S. André came up the left side, but he struck the ball weakly and it went straight into the arms of W. Bronsart. L_P_A's defence sent a ball soaring up the middle on a beautiful counterattack with 35 minutes gone, but J. Canoura's finish was met by the reaching hands of the keeper. K. Butseraen was having a great game - if anything the pouring rain seemed to be spurring him on! 37 minutes into the game, C. Faraglia almost gave the visitors the lead, as he clipped a delicate lob over the keeper, but the ball glanced harmlessly off the crossbar. CA's D. Abdollahi tried to break through in the middle repeatedly, but couldn't get past the visitors' defenders. The terraces were silenced after 39 minutes when L_P_A's P. Balaguer put the guests ahead 0 - 1, following an attack on the right. CA had a good opportunity to attack on the wing, but remembered their instructions to go for middle attacks. Some fine passing in the middle of the pitch, carving open the away defence, should have led to a goal for CA, but S. André's shot went over the bar. 42 minutes into the match, K. Butseraen came through the middle and almost added to his team's lead, but the shot went wide. 0 - 1 was the halftime score. CA claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 61 percent.

It was obvious that team CA had instructions to attack in the middle instead of on the wings. After 49 minutes of play, F. Della Giovanna evened things up for CA with an impressive goal coming up the middle. 1 - 1. After 51 minutes, V. Bergamaschi sent the corner kick right to C. Faraglia who headed it sharply past the keeper. 1 - 2! Central attacks were the recipe of the day for CA, as they moved the ball from the wings to the middle with startling regularity. CA put pressure on the visitors' central defence 52 minutes into the game, but V. Muntada couldn't find an opening. With 61 minutes played, L_P_A put themselves up 1 - 3 after an attack from the right, caused by a defensive blunder. The scorer was V. Bergamaschi. After 75 minutes, CA switched M. Sánchez Ochoa with E. Barriga, hoping for a quick impact on the pitch. CA's S. André was shown a yellow card for standing over the ball and blocking an opponent's quick free kick after 75 minutes. L_P_A's V. Della Bianca got himself booked for a foul. CA enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 57 percent of possession.

Most important CA player was D. Abdollahi. E. Barriga was a disappointment, however. L_P_A's best player was W. Bronsart. V. Della Bianca turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 1 - 3.