Guardiola 1 - 2 Deportivo (382916146)

Fairly good weather for football had drawn a crowd of 21748 to Dn.Vito_Corleone. Ben Schwengeler was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Didier Cacoyannis and Jesse Närvänen. Guardiola tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. Lineup: Albó - Arellano, Aguirre, Riba - Atanes, Machado, Carbonell, Gietmann, Ganca - Parlevliet, Roffa.

Deportivo started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players took the field: Joubert - Mouré, Korzeń, Droździk - Itaparica, Zelz, Aresti, Löw, Nega - Lajus, Tončev.

Deportivo took the lead 16 minutes into the game, making the score 0 - 1 after some elegant movement down the middle. B. Tončev was the scorer. With 24 minutes played, B. Mouré of Deportivo fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee was unimpressed, and booked him for diving. 31 minutes into the match, the visitors put themselves ahead 0 - 2 as E. Löw finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick. 0 - 2 was the halftime score. Guardiola claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 54 percent.

The home crowd cheered when, after 62 minutes, N. Lajus's charge up the middle resulted in the keeper making one of his best saves of the day. The bench was restless, and with 67 minutes passed Guardiola's coach gave M. Vintró the opportunity the player had been hoping for. S. Gietmann reluctantly left the field. After 68 minutes, Guardiola switched I. Ganca with A. Gerino, hoping for a quick impact on the pitch. A. Roffa almost reduced the deficit, having drawn the entire left side defence away, but the shot went straight into the arms of the goalkeeper. The home team's supporters got excited again when M. Vintró broke through the visitors' central defence and caught their keeper off guard, making it 1 - 2. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Guardiola, with 57 percent of the ball.

Guardiola's best player was J. Machado. A. Gerino turned in a dismal performance, however. Deportivo's top performer was clearly B. Tončev. However, P. Joubert made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 1 - 2.