Barca 4 - 5 Focsani (392398443)

18429 fans braved the pouring rain at HELL PARK ARENA. Arco de Wit was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Niklas Ritter and Walery Widomski. Barca had chosen a strategic 2-5-3 formation. The following players took the field: Chvostek - Carlucci, Minculescu - Busuioc, Buşu, Bărăitaru, Androne, Ilişescu - Bur, Ortuño, Šádek.

A 2-5-3 alignment was the formation of choice for Focsani. Starters: Caneva - Bickerstaff, Al-Abdul - Jeavons, Riebeseel, Lindrup, Köhle, Viduka - Hundritsch, Creţu, Prună.

The visiting M. Jeavons was booed thoroughly by the home crowd 5 minutes into the game, after he broke through the middle and scored, resulting in the visitors taking the lead. 0 - 1 was the score. The crowd roared in delight as B. Ortuño finished off a spectacular series of passes through the middle to even the score for Barca 28 minutes into the match. 1 - 1. It was a bad day for the usually speedy C. Creţu. The mud seemed to slow him down. After 38 minutes, Focsani sent a free kick in high over the penalty box. In what looked like a well-rehearsed move, the ball was headed backwards and reached T. Al-Abdul, who had plenty of space to place a well aimed shot - 1 - 2. 41 minutes in, and Barca were able to score the equalising goal to make it 2 - 2 when B. Ortuño picked up a pass coming in from the right and chipped it past the away team's keeper. 2 - 2 was the halftime score. Focsani claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 51 percent.

They were singing the praises of M. Androne 47 minutes into the match after his speculative chip from the middle of the penalty box found its way over the visitors' keeper to make the score 3 - 2 to Barca. 49 minutes into the match the visitors levelled the score at 3 - 3 as C. Creţu struck home from a rebound off the crossbar, following a shot from the right. With 62 minutes played, Barca's well-worked indirect free kick caused havoc in the penalty area, and when the ball eventually fell to Z. Šádek he gleefully slotted the ball home to make it 4 - 3. A. Minculescu was struggling to make the ball dance with his usual trickery and panache, and the opposing players had little trouble shutting him down in these muddy conditions. Focsani's C. Creţu left the field after 83 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was D. Mandea. Barca's B. Ortuño saw his fine effort strike the top of the bar following some good work up the middle by his teammates after 84 minutes. D. Busuioc could have increased the lead after 86 minutes, but his shot hit the post after a nice combination in the middle of the park. After 88 minutes, the visitors levelled the scores after T. Al-Abdul made it through the middle and struck home to make it 4 - 4. Barca enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 52 percent of possession.

As neither team was able to break the deadlock before the end of regular play, the teams took to the field again for extra time. Focsani took the lead 93 minutes into the game, making the score 4 - 5 after some elegant movement down the middle. P. Köhle was the scorer. Game over, Focsani win! The most dominating Barca player was without a doubt R. Bărăitaru. A. Minculescu turned in a dismal performance, however. J. Riebeseel performed admirably for Focsani. On the other hand, M. Jeavons's play was disheartening. The match ends 4 - 5.