Atletico 5 - 2 BRENA (382887138)

Fairly good weather for football had drawn a crowd of 49153 to Los Peralejos. Nick Hindel was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Diderick Töscher and Manor Vilner. Atletico decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. The following players had been chosen: Eszenyi - Castellbo, Johansson, Platero - Hidalgo, Agarrado, Abarrategui, Valle Herce, Úrculo - Laneve, Bettinger.

BRENA had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Starters: Kühlthau - Moradell, Vilallonga, Alonso - Ferrusol, Arnal, Cadena, Bidaurreta, Cepeda - Pena, Rada Collado.

The strategy for BRENA was to use their ability to press. The guests almost went up by a goal after 4 minutes when H. Vilallonga came through and shot from the right. The ball bounced harmlessly off the post, though. After 9 minutes, K. Bettinger came in from the right, feinted, then sped past the off-balance defender to make the score 1 - 0, giving Atletico the lead. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, B. Bidaurreta got himself booked. The manager of BRENA was not happy. The pressing tactics used by BRENA were successful as the ball remained close to the half way line at all times. With 19 minutes played, D. Castellbo of Atletico fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee was unimpressed, and booked him for diving. Cheers filled the stadium as A. Hidalgo broke through the visitors' central defence to put away the ball to increase the lead to 2 - 0 to Atletico. F. Laneve hit the corner kick straight to the keeper, but it was mishandled, giving Atletico's J. Platero an easy chance to knock it in for 3 - 0. The players of Atletico now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. After 39 minutes, following yet another great corner, D. Castellbo's flick on at the near post reached A. Abarrategui, who was just wide with his snapshot - the ball went out for a goal kick. A bit later, BRENA's B. Bidaurreta easily reduced the lead to 3 - 1 after a misunderstanding in the home side's central defence. The teams went for the halftime break at 3 - 1. Atletico had most of the ball, with 54 percent of possession.

BRENA needed a fresh pair of legs on the field, and after 46 minutes A. Moradell made way for R. Martínez de Herrero. As the captain was no longer on the pitch, L. Rada Collado took over the role of being the BRENA captain. Atletico solidified their lead at the 59 minute mark, as A. Hidalgo dribbled the ball through the opposing central defence and scored to make it 4 - 1. A. Johansson could have increased the lead after 61 minutes, but his shot hit the post after a nice combination in the middle of the park. There was concern in the stands when, at the 63 minute mark, BRENA's B. Arnal hit the ground hard, but he refused the attention of the trainer and rejoined his teammates on the pitch. Things were going to get worse for the visitors. A. Johansson squirmed through their central defence after 67 minutes, increasing the lead to 5 - 1. The home team's fans were upset when, after 72 minutes, the visiting L. Alonso broke through the central defence and kicked the ball past the keeper. 5 - 2 was the score. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Atletico, with 55 percent of the ball.

Most important Atletico player was F. Laneve. G. Úrculo was a disappointment, however. BRENA's best player was R. Pena. R. Martínez de Herrero on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 5 - 2.