Atletico 2 - 2 2011 (377821233)

A brilliantly sunny day had enticed a crowd of 584 to Paolo Mantovani Stadium. Nicolas Paradis was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Wouter-Jan Beringer and Enzo Héctor García. Atletico had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. Starters: Oester - Schischka, Tabak, Agüero, Tarrade - Weijermans, Sezel, Lavaud, Pöysä - Lengyel, Gullin.

2011 tactics involved an interesting 2-5-3 combination. They fielded: Wyjadłowski - Bretta, Blanco - Castro, Strittmatter, Maadri, Szott, Ramírez - Hilty, Novák, Pazé.

Today, Atletico's strategy involved concentrating on the flanks for their attacks. It was obvious that Atletico had instructions to attack on the wings instead of in the middle. With 11 minutes played, the home side managed to get a 1 - 0 lead as B. Schischka flipped the ball in after a cross from the right. 2011's D. Szott was shown a yellow card after 12 minutes for slicing down an opponent. E. Oester's name was chanted throughout the stadium after he made a fantastic save from R. Pazé's shot from the left 16 minutes into the match. After 22 minutes, a couple of quick and successful challenges followed by a shot from just outside the penalty area by G. Lengyel might have resulted in another goal for Atletico. However, D. Wyjadłowski made a spectacular save. A. Tarrade could have increased the lead after 26 minutes, but his shot hit the post after a nice combination in the middle of the park. The teams went for the halftime break at 1 - 0. Atletico claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 58 percent.

2011 tied it all up, 47 minutes in, after a spectacular goal by L. Castro, who miraculously broke through the home side's central defence, making it 1 - 1. Atletico had a good opportunity to attack in the middle, but remembered their instructions to focus on wing attacks instead. At 48 minutes played, G. Lengyel came in from the right with the intention of giving Atletico the lead, but his rocket of a shot rattled the crossbar. Having been awarded a free kick in an awkward position after 73 minutes, 2011 did not go for a shot but instead fired the ball hard into the 6 yard box. After a brief tussle with his marker, R. Pazé was able to power the ball past the keeper to make the score 1 - 2. As usual, G. Maadri tried to use his strength and hard work for the benefit of the team, but the heat hit him hard and he couldn't keep pace at all. Attacking on the wings was the choice for Atletico, and they were successfully passing the ball from the middle to the wings to attack. 76 minutes in, and Atletico were able to score the equalising goal to make it 2 - 2 when H. Gullin picked up a pass coming in from the right and chipped it past the away team's keeper. Possession in this half belonged to Atletico, who controlled the ball 64 percent of the time.

The most dominating Atletico player was without a doubt B. Tabak. However, E. Oester made a disastrous appearance. 2011's best player was Q. Hilty. On the other hand, G. Maadri's play was disheartening. The match ends 2 - 2.