Manchego 5 - 1 Logistic (383065965)

Weather conditions were fairly good for football, and Coliseo Manchego saw a crowd turnout of 23794. Félix Glimes was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Carl Wellauer and Jean-Jacques Winkelried. Manchego had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Lineup: Kock - Asil, Bochev, Vardopoulos - Bálek, Cairo, Herber, Baumer, Borlaug - Sossella, Andreasson.

Logistic tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. They fielded: Daraban - Garrido López, Palop, Höllerer - Ziver, Johanneskirche, Olivares Nadal, Marzano, Merkl - Ramirez-Tello, Setón.

Logistic clearly had decided to counter-attack when they could. Manchego had a chance to take the lead after R. Cairo's dazzling drive up the left, but the opportunity fizzled out as his shot went just over the bar after 11 minutes. 0 - 1 was the score with 30 minutes played, after A. Setón cut through the central defence and chipped home a goal for Logistic. After a fatal mistake from the away team's right side defence 35 minutes into the match, an alert J. Sossella bagged the ball for Manchego, levelling the score to 1 - 1. There was concern in the stands when, at the 36 minute mark, Manchego's C. Borlaug hit the ground hard, but he refused the attention of the trainer and rejoined his teammates on the pitch. 38 minutes had elapsed when a great chance for Manchego to take the lead after a good cross from the right found U. Andreasson alone with the keeper, but he chipped it to the wrong side of the post. Manchego fans held their breath as R. Cairo scampered down the left side. He successfully avoided all challenges and cracked home the shot for 2 - 1! N. Kock's name was chanted throughout the stadium after he made a fantastic save from E. Marzano's shot from the left 43 minutes into the match. Manchego's R. Cairo got himself booked for a foul. Halftime score was 2 - 1. Manchego had most of the ball, with 66 percent of possession.

The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave M. Merkl from Logistic a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 47 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! N. Kock of Manchego had to be helped off the pitch as an injury meant he was unable to finish the game. A. Kondo came in to finish the match. After 49 minutes, the away team failed to deal with a good exchange of passes on the right, and V. Bálek gave the Manchego supporters even more to cheer about when he increased the lead to 3 - 1. Unhappy with the result so far in the game, the Logistic manager used a brief break in play after 49 minutes to give the players new directives. After 49 minutes, Logistic switched M. Merkl with M. Sanz, hoping for a quick impact on the pitch. After 53 minutes, Manchego's V. Bálek found the back of the goal with a beautiful free kick. 4 - 1. Cheers filled the stadium as U. Andreasson broke through the visitors' central defence to put away the ball to increase the lead to 5 - 1 to Manchego. At this point, it was obvious that the players of Manchego lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. Against a lesser team, Manchego could very well have succeeded with their smart indirect free kick routine after 57 minutes. A trio of passes took the ball all the way past the defenders, but by then the intended recipient was already blocked off and the keeper could make a leisurely save. Logistic had a great opportunity to score following a counterattack after 58 minutes, but J. Ramirez-Tello's shot from the left sailed high over the bar. The Logistic players listened closely to their manager, as he gave new tactical instructions for the team. Logistic almost scored after a counterattack 71 minutes into the match, but E. Marzano took a shot from the left that landed harmlessly in the side of the net. Manchego claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 63 percent.

Manchego's top performer was clearly R. Cairo. A. Kondo on the other hand, had a terrible day. J. Ramirez-Tello performed admirably for Logistic. I. Daraban was a disappointment, however. The match ends 5 - 1.