Mangueros 1 - 5 BENFICA (378827404)

Dark skies made the crowd of 2672 at Mangueros Arena a little nervous, but the rain held off. Andrzej Wacławik was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Ville Mäkikoski and Stefano Solinas. A 2-5-3 alignment was the formation of choice for Mangueros. They fielded: Randulfe - Carregal, Laville - Feuchtmueller, Holletschek, Jeník, van Wolde, Juaçaba - Juin, Sulko, Istueta.

BENFICA decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. Lineup: Maia Alves - Szczodrowski, Palomba, Gerrijts - Aviz, Josefsen, Langmeil, Godim, Chainho - Coelho Dias, Pacheco.

At 7 minutes played, T. Feuchtmueller came in from the right with the intention of giving Mangueros the lead, but his rocket of a shot rattled the crossbar. Some quick footwork on the left side of the field 18 minutes into the match left BENFICA's K. Josefsen completely free to score. 0 - 1 for the visitors. Mangueros's H. Holletschek put his head to a high ball coming in from the right after 26 minutes, but the ball went wide. After a fatal mistake from the away team's right side defence 39 minutes into the match, an alert T. Feuchtmueller bagged the ball for Mangueros, levelling the score to 1 - 1. BENFICA took the lead 40 minutes into the game, making the score 1 - 2 after some elegant movement down the middle. A. Coelho Dias was the scorer. The referee showed BENFICA's J. Aviz the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. It was 1 - 2 at the break. Mangueros had most of the ball, with 52 percent of possession.

49 minutes into the match, the visitors put themselves ahead 1 - 3 as A. Coelho Dias finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick. After 66 minutes, an incisive pass through the middle gave H. Godim a chance to increase the lead for BENFICA, and he did not disappoint. The score was then 1 - 4. Mangueros's A. Istueta refused to leave the field after injuring his achilles tendon after 70 minutes. Mangueros had a brilliant opportunity to reply as J. Juin received a high ball from the right, striking the ball in the air. Only L. Maia Alves's reflexes saved him. H. Holletschek tried to get a goal back for Mangueros but despite all his hard work down the right, he just couldn't complete the move. With 76 minutes played, BENFICA put themselves up 1 - 5 after an attack from the right, caused by a defensive blunder. The scorer was B. Szczodrowski. At this point, it was obvious that the players of BENFICA lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. BENFICA's K. Josefsen made it through the home team's defence on the right hand side 82 minutes into the match. After rounding the keeper, he only had to place the ball in the unguarded goal when a defender slid in and cleared the ball off the line. Possession in this half belonged to Mangueros, who controlled the ball 53 percent of the time.

G. van Wolde performed admirably for Mangueros. K. Laville turned in a dismal performance, however. Most important BENFICA player was K. Josefsen. J. Aviz on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 1 - 5.