barca 3 - 0 Darty (385983455)

21096 punters turned up at barca 13 Arena, and despite threatening clouds on the horizon, no rain came. Lars Läfsten was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Leon Malsburg and Uffe Torsson. barca started off with a 4-4-2 lineup. Lineup: Manoliu - Seco, Ziegelwagner, Spasari, Shani - Cancino, Zampol, Dorna, Mäntyvaara - Høiby, Caputo.

Darty decided to use a 4-4-2 set up. Starters: Malho - de Burbure, Escayola, Gosik, Kaddu - Kalējs, Bernth, Dhenin, Conventz - Ponticelli, Masel.

barca decided to play creatively. With 5 minutes played, the home side managed to get a 1 - 0 lead as P. Caputo flipped the ball in after a cross from the right. Against a lesser team, barca could very well have succeeded with their smart indirect free kick routine after 14 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. After 23 minutes Darty's U. Masel limped slightly after a late challenge, but he was able to continue. The corner kick from E. Zampol was powerfully met by the head of P. Caputo to make the score 2 - 0. After 37 minutes, T. Høiby put barca ahead 3 - 0 when he rose to head in a cross from the right wing. The players of barca now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. 3 - 0 was the halftime score. barca claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 52 percent.

Darty breathed new life into the game with an opportunity to reduce the score after 50 minutes, but the home side's defenders cleared the ball on the line, after a long shot coming in from the left rebounded off the crossbar. The barca players could smell victory in the air. C. Ziegelwagner wasn't in a hurry to leave the field as he was substituted for E. Cioccoletta after 89 minutes. Possession in this half belonged to Darty, who controlled the ball 53 percent of the time.

barca's best player was F. Manoliu. E. Cioccoletta on the other hand, had a terrible day. Darty's top performer was clearly P. Ponticelli. P. Gosik turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 3 - 0.