Spartak 0 - 3 realvolta! (381697094)

Dark skies made the crowd of 29467 at Euganea Arena a little nervous, but the rain held off. Ömür Toprak was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Geery Bumke and Nicola Frasso. Spartak had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Starters: Fontenay - Berho, Ivarsson, Werner - Ibn-Mubarak, Iacuzzo, Bassoricci, Pérez Mazo, Naar - Bouhrara, Santibáñez.

realvolta! decided to use a 3-4-3 set up. The following players had been chosen: Duval - Hastings, Botezatu, Soshenko - Eggmayer, Lumini, Pellencin, Saladounikau - Gülhan, Martzall, Foletto.

The referee showed realvolta!'s S. Hastings the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. After a fine move down the middle P. Iacuzzo nearly gave the home side a goal after 24 minutes. However the finishing shot went just wide. realvolta! mounted an inspired counterattack down the right wing after 25 minutes, but P. Saladounikau was unable to convert from short range. The home crowd was not impressed by the fancy moves of realvolta!'s C. Botezatu after 32 minutes. He converted a pass from the left for a goal, resulting in the visitors taking the 0 - 1 lead. S. Hastings came close to extending the visitors' lead when he found himself completely unmarked in front of the goal after a pass through the middle. He tried to lift the ball over F. Fontenay but overcooked it and hit the bar instead. 0 - 1 was the halftime score. Spartak had most of the ball, with 51 percent of possession.

With 47 minutes played, after a good run down the left, L. Pérez Mazo went down looking for a penalty after a challenge from the visitors' right fullback, but the referee waved play on, and later warned him for diving. The visitors added to their lead 64 minutes into the game, after a sensational penalty kick by realvolta!'s S. Hastings slid just past the home keeper. 0 - 2. P. Iacuzzo of Spartak received a yellow card after 69 minutes for unsportsmanlike behaviour. After 70 minutes, an incisive pass through the middle gave T. Eggmayer a chance to increase the lead for realvolta!, and he did not disappoint. The score was then 0 - 3. At this point, it was obvious that the players of realvolta! lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. Y. Bouhrara challenged the visitors' central defence eagerly, producing a good chance 81 minutes into the game as he went for a through ball. But, as so many times before, the guests' defensive efforts got the best of it. Spartak claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 51 percent.

Y. Bouhrara performed admirably for Spartak. On the other hand, F. Fontenay's play was disheartening. realvolta!'s top performer was clearly A. Pellencin. C. Botezatu was a disappointment, however. The match ends 0 - 3.