Ratas 1 - 1 Atletico (382890602)

The 27632 spectators at Ratas F.C. Arena were in for an afternoon of sunshine. Etienne Paulusma was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Richard Pihlman and Yannick Voser. Ratas decided to use a 5-3-2 set up. They fielded: Zas - Ulvestad, Zola, Dušek, Taulats, Drăgoi - Esteban, Paez, Coucieiro - Cenăuţan, Ostos Pérez.

A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Atletico. Lineup: Farreras - Villena, Esteller, Cantín - Torres Calderón, Cabrelles, Escalada, Piñeiro Truan, Isach - Infante, Loberas.

Ratas tried to focus their attacks down the middle. It was a hot and sunny day, and several players seemed worn out. Maybe this was why E. Ulvestad found an unusual amount of space for his snappy footwork. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave M. Piñeiro Truan from Atletico a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 10 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! Atletico's J. Villena was shown a yellow card after 40 minutes for slicing down an opponent. Atletico's J. Esteller managed to lose the defenders as he advanced down the right wing and scored, putting the visitors ahead after 42 minutes. 0 - 1. The teams went for the halftime break at 0 - 1. Possession in this half belonged to Ratas, who controlled the ball 54 percent of the time.

The Atletico coach was visibly pleased with the score so far, but still ordered a few tactical changes 50 minutes into the game. After a short break after 50 minutes, Atletico seemed to change their tactical approach a bit. After 73 minutes of play, A. Cenăuţan evened things up for Ratas with an impressive goal coming up the middle. 1 - 1. Atletico's Q. Isach could have put the guests one up after 74 minutes after chasing a through ball from the right, but E. Zas was as fast as a snake, grabbing the ball from under his nose. As usual, J. Villena tried to use his strength and hard work for the benefit of the team, but the heat hit him hard and he couldn't keep pace at all. Good work by the Atletico defensive line after 81 minutes produced a good counterattack chance, which cut elegantly down the middle of the pitch and found M. Loberas alone in front of the goal, but his shot whistled just wide. Atletico's Q. Isach got himself booked for a foul. A. Esteban was the unlucky victim and couldn't continue the game, so Ratas's E. Sille had to come off the bench. Atletico claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 51 percent.

Ratas's best player was E. Zas. M. Dušek turned in a dismal performance, however. M. Loberas performed admirably for Atletico. However, J. Esteller made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 1 - 1.