Partisan 3 - 4 Kickers (393209254)

The weather was pretty good, and a crowd of 40000 had shown up at Auf der Scholle for the match. Terry Brandsteder was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Jan-Piet Jongkind and Björn Pletschacher. A 4-4-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Partisan. The following players had been chosen: Fulir - Griesmeyer-Kwasny, Vilas, Ervello, Ciuffreda - Conde, Menacher, Vertman, Eigl - Pachkov, Meçani.

Kickers decided to use a 3-4-3 set up. Lineup: Gmach - de Lint, Zika, Szewc - Ozeri, Borovský, Varta, Santisteban - Kraul, Lehtola, Heerlen.

Partisan clearly had decided to counter-attack when they could. The wings were the focus of most of Kickers's attacks today. 32 minutes into the game, R. Santisteban almost gave the visitors the lead, as he clipped a delicate lob over the keeper, but the ball glanced harmlessly off the crossbar. Attacking on the wings was the choice for Kickers, and they were successfully passing the ball from the middle to the wings to attack. After 35 minutes, Kickers put themselves up 0 - 1, as T. de Lint finished off a strike from the left with a real cannonball of a shot. 0 - 1 was the halftime score. Kickers had most of the ball, with 69 percent of possession.

Kickers had a good opportunity to attack in the middle, but remembered their instructions to focus on wing attacks instead. F. Vertman knocked one home from a counterattack down the right wing, making the score 1 - 1 after 48 minutes. Kickers's B. Borovský left the field after 60 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was T. Velss. J. Kraul of Kickers was able to make an impressive rush past the sluggish E. Ervello, which resulted in a goal making the score 1 - 2. Partisan's counterattacks were lethal to the opposing defence, allowing E. Ervello to score easily from the right flank for 2 - 2. Kickers were determined to attack on the wing and their central attempts were constantly abandoned in favour of the wings. Some quick footwork on the left side of the field 67 minutes into the match left Kickers's R. Santisteban completely free to score. 2 - 3 for the visitors. J. Kraul could have added one to the visitors' lead if his free kick had gone just a little lower. Content with how the game was proceeding, the Kickers coach let R. Holland replace A. Zika after 75 minutes. With the scoreboard showing that 76 minutes had been played, Kickers nearly put themselves up another goal after J. Kraul came through on the left. Fortunately for the home crowd, the keeper made the save. Players in Kickers heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their central attacks to the wings instead. Partisan played a good counterattacking move down the left 81 minutes into the match, with E. Ervello finishing well for 3 - 3. After 88 minutes, the Kickers coach wanted to see a new face on the pitch, waving T. de Lint off the field. J. Wurzach took his place. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Kickers, with 70 percent of the ball.

With the scores being level after 90 minutes, the match went into extra time. 3 - 4 was the score with 97 minutes played, after T. Velss cut through the central defence and chipped home a goal for Kickers. Game over, Kickers win! The most dominating Partisan player was without a doubt M. Fulir. However, M. Menacher made a disastrous appearance. Most important Kickers player was J. Kraul. On the other hand, P. Lehtola's play was disheartening. The match ends 3 - 4.