LITOS 2 - 1 Vell-Lloc (382889778)

Clouds darkened the skies at ALCAZAR ARENA as 46673 spectators turned up for the match. Stéphane Cavalli was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Marco Cicchi and Edgar Dechat. A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for LITOS. Starters: Janicki - Škorić, Krneta, Rej - Dimai, Panin, Verkeev, Barkholt, Rautiala - Rezendes, Breiner.

Vell-Lloc started off with a 5-3-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Obreiter - Castilla, Mesas, Eschmann, Olabuenaga, Ortega Val - Kettner, Desperes, Wyczesany - Magenbauer, Ducroquet.

Today, LITOS's strategy involved concentrating on the flanks for their attacks. Vell-Lloc were relying on their ability to counter-attack. Z. Krneta got left behind when Vell-Lloc's P. Ducroquet made a sudden run forward after 5 minutes, finishing off with a neat strike. 0 - 1! E. Rezendes was just a finger's breadth away from an equaliser for LITOS with a strike from the left, but E. Obreiter managed to ward the shot off for a corner. LITOS were close to equalising with a spectacular free kick by M. Breiner after 30 minutes, but E. Obreiter made a great save, tipping it to a corner. After 34 minutes Vell-Lloc tried to exploit their counterattacking skills, unfortunately, T. Desperes's shot sailed wide after his break down the right. Given a free kick in a difficult position after 38 minutes, LITOS tried a variation that they had practised in training. The kick was sent into the area just in front of the keeper. However, the defence were on their toes and allowed no space for a finish. Halftime score was 0 - 1. LITOS enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 64 percent of possession.

With 48 minutes having been played, LITOS scored to make it 1 - 1. A dribble down the left wing, followed by a shot which took a wicked bounce off a defender resulted in the keeper having no chance. Everyone thought it'd been an own goal, but R. Panin was marked down as the scorer. With 71 minutes played M. Breiner almost put the home team one ahead on a cross coming in from the right, but the shot went just wide. The visitors were very close to gaining the lead with a marvellous free kick after 73 minutes, but M. Janicki made a beautiful one-handed save. Vell-Lloc will have to do without T. Desperes for a time, due to a bad foot injury at the 76 minute mark. He was substituted by R. Brodersen. LITOS were very close to putting themselves one up after 77 minutes as M. Breiner got through on the left, but failing in concentration, he shot the ball wide. It was obvious that LITOS had instructions to attack on the wings instead of in the middle. After 84 minutes, M. Breiner came in from the right, feinted, then sped past the off-balance defender to make the score 2 - 1, giving LITOS the lead. LITOS claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 62 percent.

LITOS's best player was M. Janicki. N. Škorić was a disappointment, however. Vell-Lloc's top performer was clearly E. Magenbauer. On the other hand, A. Mesas's play was disheartening. The match ends 2 - 1.