Galacticos 4 - 0 Highland (382814492)

It had rained all day, but 32346 hardy fans still made it out to Santiago Bernabe. Gotthelf Mala was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Per Fredriksson and Anders Björkborn. Galacticos tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. They fielded: Noyman - Wouters, Rosa Cruz, Figueira - Schwebach, Trošić, Vicinanza, Pierleoni, Vidić - Güldenstein, Târnăcop.

Highland decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. Lineup: Fuentes - Alexandersson, Snapper, Rocha Carvalho - Panaseth, Ahonen, Terjéki, Guillou, Thoren - Belmen, Lagonegro.

Highland mostly ignored the flanks in favour of their ability to attack in the middle. With 6 minutes played, the home side managed to get a 1 - 0 lead as E. Schwebach flipped the ball in after a cross from the right. After 20 minutes, a couple of quick and successful challenges followed by a shot from just outside the penalty area by K. Güldenstein might have resulted in another goal for Galacticos. However, N. Fuentes made a spectacular save. Galacticos solidified their lead at the 27 minute mark, as M. Pierleoni dribbled the ball through the opposing central defence and scored to make it 2 - 0. 28 minutes into the game, G. Wouters had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came B. Van Dyck. G. Târnăcop should probably have put his team up another goal after 36 minutes, but some great goalkeeping by N. Fuentes kept the visitors in the game. Galacticos's E. Schwebach was shown a yellow card after 37 minutes for slicing down an opponent. The teams went for the halftime break at 2 - 0. Possession in this half belonged to Galacticos, who controlled the ball 61 percent of the time.

49 minutes into the match, the visitors' central line of defence had to look on as K. Güldenstein broke through, making the score 3 - 0 for Galacticos. At this point, it was obvious that the players of Galacticos lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. With 58 minutes played, M. Vidić could have brought this one home for Galacticos as he charged up on the left, but his hooked ball went just a bit too high. After 68 minutes, the away team failed to deal with a good exchange of passes on the right, and M. Pierleoni gave the Galacticos supporters even more to cheer about when he increased the lead to 4 - 0. Galacticos enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 65 percent of possession.

Most important Galacticos player was K. Güldenstein. M. Vidić on the other hand, had a terrible day. A. Belmen performed admirably for Highland. However, A. Thoren made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 4 - 0.