Desportivo 0 - 1 RLU (370399436)

Due to an all-day shower, 19343 paying spectators got to see a match on a pitch-turned-bog at Estadio Desportivo El Nuif. Tommy Gleave was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Alexis Vallée and Santiago Merino. Desportivo tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. Lineup: Blog - Zapparoli, Zdonek, Fromont - Śliwczyński, Köpp, Mester, Schröck, Solaini - Freyth, Serrano Rubiera.

A 5-4-1 alignment was the formation of choice for RLU. The following players had been chosen: Şükür - Fabre, Renaudeau, Ledoux, Thomas, Simonet - Angebault, Vieira, Leroy, Mercier - Robert.

Desportivo used their ability to concentrate their attacks in the middle of the pitch, rather than on the wings. It was an obvious ambition of RLU to use their ability at attacking on the flanks. Central attacks were the recipe of the day for Desportivo, as they moved the ball from the wings to the middle with startling regularity. Some great play up the middle by Desportivo led to a chance for Á. Serrano Rubiera to score after 11 minutes, but the shot hit the crossbar. Á. Serrano Rubiera 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. It was obvious that team Desportivo had instructions to attack in the middle instead of on the wings. Desportivo were determined to attack in the middle, even their wing attacks ended up centrally. 0 - 0 was the halftime score. Desportivo claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 64 percent.

As the 50 minute mark approached, the Desportivo coach decided it was time for a substitution. K. Köpp reluctantly made way for K. Muuro on the pitch. G. Leroy would have preferred to play on, but his coach decided otherwise. J. Poli entered the game for RLU as the match clock showed 60 minutes. C. Renaudeau had a good try after 64 minutes, coming in on a fine move from the left, but the ball went wide. 65 minutes into the match, the referee signalled for a RLU substitution. S. Lasserre came on for T. Fabre. After 80 minutes, the RLU coach wanted to see a new face on the pitch, waving L. Robert off the field. J. Eudes took his place. J. Poli finished off the counterattack of RLU from the left rather easily, making the score 0 - 1. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Desportivo, with 65 percent of the ball.

L. Mester performed admirably for Desportivo. M. Blog on the other hand, had a terrible day. RLU's best player was J. Eudes. S. Lasserre was a disappointment, however. The match ends 0 - 1.