Athletic 4 - 0 barcalona (390123923)

The 7747 fans in attendance at The Spinney Park were roasting in the hot sun. Mark Gomersbach was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Even Merkesdal and Patrice Graveleau. Athletic decided to use a 4-4-2 set up. They fielded: Lomelín - Zadzielak, Baamorto, Cubby, Häggström - Halley, Dantas, Farrell, Pegg - Sangalli, Marinko.

barcalona had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. Lineup: Dolby - Duffy, Lamie, Cumberland, Gilligan - Lyon, Arnold, Ingle, Loftus - Ennis, Gore.

Athletic took the lead after 5 minutes as a result of Ž. Marinko's peach of a shot from the right hand side of the box - placed beautifully in the top corner. 1 - 0. Athletic put themselves up 2 - 0 when A. Dantas broke through on the right, leaving the entire defence trailing in his wake. At 13 minutes, the visitors got a chance to reduce the score when a penalty was awarded, but G. Duffy, intimidated by the crowd, missed it. The referee showed Athletic's A. Baamorto the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Athletic's Ž. Marinko swung in a good chance from the left, but the visitors' defence were able to clear the ball. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, B. Halley got himself booked. The manager of Athletic was not happy. The teams went for the halftime break at 2 - 0. Athletic claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 61 percent.

Things were going to get worse for the visitors. M. Pegg squirmed through their central defence after 62 minutes, increasing the lead to 3 - 0. barcalona had to make a substitution after 74 minutes. I. Arnold limped off the field and was replaced by T. Gardiner. Several players seemed a little dazed by the warm weather, and were repeatedly tricked by the clever and agile M. Sangalli. B. Halley could have increased the lead after 80 minutes, but his shot hit the post after a nice combination in the middle of the park. A. Lyon found it hard to catch his breath today in the stifling heat. Athletic's A. Farrell increased the lead to 4 - 0, after he saw his shot go between the legs of the advancing goalkeeper following some good play down the right wing after 85 minutes. Confident in their lead, Athletic's players relaxed and focused more on defending the lead than increasing it. A. Lyon of barcalona received a yellow card after 88 minutes for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Athletic had most of the ball, with 59 percent of possession.

Most important Athletic player was Ž. Marinko. J. Häggström turned in a dismal performance, however. barcalona's top performer was clearly R. Gore. On the other hand, A. Dolby's play was disheartening. The match ends 4 - 0.