Werder 2 - 0 Ajax

A game that was full of energy but low on scoring chances finished with the German champions ahead thanks to some clinical finishing from Player of the Match, Julia Audinet.
Julia scored in the first half and the Dutch team had no reply. In the second half, she set up Line with a good chance but her shot went slightly wide. Camilla went on a great run and nearly equalised but then - gol sbagliato, gol subito - Julia scored again at the other end.
BEST PLAYER POINTS: Julia 7, Line 5, Camilla 4, Daria 4, Isabella 1

Besiktas 4 - 0 Goteborg

Taking advantage mercilessly of un under-strength Goteborg, Elif's team hammered home four goals and gave warning to the other teams that they are out to win this tournament.

The captain grabbed the first goal after winning the ball on the half-way line. Allegra made it two with a beautiful high curling shot into the top corner. Allegra then set up Emma Z for the third goal and Elif made it 4-0 in the second half.

If it hadn't been for Asia (today's Player of the Match) in the Swedish defence, the score might have reached double figures.

BEST PLAYER POINTS: Asia 9, Allegra 6, Emma Z 3, Olivia 2, Elif 1

Panathanaikos 2-3 FC Basel

A lively game today, distinguished by the high quality of headed goals and lots of players who played well up to their standard.

Basel took the lead when captain Rocco took a good free-kick and Andrea rose like an eagle to head it home. The Greeks struck back with another lovely header, Ludovico's corner finding Marco in the box. But Marco's team still went in at half time a goal down after Francesco caught them on the break and hammered home a good shot.

Panathanaikos had two early chances in the second half - a Ludovico shot and another Marco header and then they equalised when Marco played a ball over he defence and Ludo scored with a cheeky back-header over Enrico's outstretched arms.

Enrico played well today though and made a fantastic save off a powerful Marco drive which was even slightly deflected.

Panathanaikos did not deserved to lose, but they did - caught by another Francesco break.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH POINTS: Andrea M 6, Max 6, Marco 4, Enrico 2, Alex 1, Francesco 1, Ludovico 1

Barcelona 1-2 Lyon

What a match! The first half was an even and the second half was even worse.

The only action of any note before the break was Barcelona's goal, scored by Francesco T who followed up his own penalty which had been blocked by Player of the Match, Marco Sgambati.

The penalty was awarded for a shirt-pulling offense by Matteo T and Ale Z was booked for dissent.

The second half saw early shots from Francesco G and Simone and then Simone scored the equalizer following a crisp passing move between Matteo and Gregorio.

Francesco T hit a post, Caue missed an easy chance, Emilio hit the same post but it was current leader of the Top Scorer list, Simone, who scored the winning goal when Matteo T found him in space once again.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH POINTS: Marco S 8, Caue 4, Simone 4, Emilio 3, Matteo T 2

Bayern Munich 4-1 Fenerbahce

After a scoreless first half, Emre must have wondered how it all went wrong after he put his side 1-0 up only to finish on the bad end of a 4-1 final scoreline.

A quiet first half nonetheless saw a fascinating tussle between Giovanni and Miki, with Giovanni (today's Player of the Match) trying all his tricks to get past the resolute 8th grader.

Dariush had one of the game's earlier chances when Luca Cerri fouled Emre to concede a free kick on the edge of the box but Dariush's attempt was blocked.

Jakob tried a wild shot later on and then Ale B threw himself at the feet of Giovanni to block a dangerous move. Andrea S tried a shot on the turn too but the sides were level at half time.

The Turks went ahead early i the second half. Luca S won a tackle on the left, rounded a player and passed to Emre in a good position who slotted the ball home confidently.

But the lead didn't last long. As the German's attacked, three defenders converged on Jakob, leaving Giovanni free on the right. Jakob passed to him and he cracked it into the top corner.

Jakob was now on fire. A high cross reached his head in the box and he headed the ball to Oliver who headed again but Ale made a good save. Jakob then pulled a shot wide but made no mistake two minutes later: 2-1. Jakob then scored two more to complete another miserable afternoon for Fenerbahce.

BEST PLAYER POINTS: Giovanni 8, Jakob 6, Luca S 2, Miki 2, Leo 2, Ale B 1

Werder Bremen 2-0 FC Goteborg

Despite having todays's Player or the Match (Asia) in their team, Goteborg went down to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Lena's imperious Germans.
A cagey first half saw few chances falling to either team. One of these saw Cosima alone in front of goal but she was tackled by Margot who seemed to come from nowhere to clip the ball away. Lena then had a long shot pawed away by Olivia P in goal, but Lena's follow up shot was too strong for Olivia to save. The Germans could have been two goals up before half-time, but Asia made a saving tackle on Julia and broke down numerous other attacks.
The second half saw a much more Joanna as she tried to lead her team forward by example and by good passing. She also had two good chaces to equalise through free-kicks on the left edge of the box but she shot to the right each time.
The final blow for the Swedes came when Cosima tried to clear her lines but could only watch helplessly as the ball ricocheted off Olivia M and into the back of the net.
BEST PLAYER POINTS: Asia 12, Olivia P 4, Joanna 2, Lena 2, Emma 1

Fenerbahce 0-1 FC Basel

This was a game that got off to a promising start with both sides trying to play good, passing football but it was a game that, in the end, fizzled out due to the domination of two well-organized defenses.
The only goal of the game came when Francesco S worked himself into a position near the left corner flag, from where his 'tiro-cross' struck a defender and left Andrea S stranded.
Earlier, Andrea M had come close on the other side of goal and the Turk's only real first half attempt was Emre's long free-kick.
In the second half, Dariush sent Emre in for an early chance but he pulled his shot just wide of the left post and Andrea M wasted a good chance for the Swiss.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH POINTS: Luca 6, Rocco 5, Andrea M 4, Emre 3, Miki 2, Ale B 1.

Lyon 6 - 5 Panathanaikos

Another high-scoring game saw the French champions claim another three points and move into first place in the table, leaving the unlucky Greeks to wonder how they could score five goals and still lose.
Panathanaikos went 1-0 up within seconds as Ludovico took advantage of some confusion in the Lyon defence. It didn't take Simone long to equalise though, continuing on from his five-goal spree in the first game. Panathanaikos struck again through Max, a simple tap-in from a well-struck corner and Marco Troina put his team 3-1 up with a long shot into the left-hand corner. Marco played a real captain's part today, shoring up the defence when necessary and moving forward to score when needed up front.
But then Matteo T, todays Player of the Match, woke up. He played a great ball to Marco Sgambati but Marco shot wide. The next time, Matteo took the shot himself and scored but Panathanaikos went 4-2 up when Luca dV rolled a nice pass to Ludovico for his second goal of the game.
Seven-man Lyon came out blazing for the second half. Matteo scored immediately and then another of his mazy runs ended with a pinpoint pass to Simone in the box. The pass was a little over-hit but Simone controlled it well, spun around and struck the bar with a left-foot shot. Matteo went on another run and this time he found Ale Z with the final pass and Zippo pit the teams level at 4-4.
The same move was repeated immediately but this time Max made a brilliant save from Ale. Matteo had another couple of chances and his goalkeeper, Andrea Sgambati, made a very well-timed run out of his box to break up a promising Greek attack. Then Matteo scored to put the French team ahead for the first time. Panathanaikos looked tired but Marco stepped up to save them, slotting a well-struck shot low into the bottom left: 5-5.
But then, seconds from the end, Ale Z put Simone through with just Max to beat. Max could have stopped him but, instead of advancing, he retreated and Simone accepted the invitation to beat him with a well-judged cross-shot.
BEST PLAYER POINTS: Matteo 10, Max 4, Marco T 3, Marco S 2, Kei 1, Simone 1

Ajax 3 - 2 Besiktas

Prima vittoria per l'Ajax di Carlotta, grazie a una buona prestazione di squadra e ai fondamentali apporti di Camilla (Player of the Match, autrice di una doppietta) e del portiere Malika. La partita per le olandesi era iniziata "in salita" dopo lo svarione di Karlin tra i pali, che non aveva saputo intercettare un facile tiro di Elif. Una buona reazione aveva poi portato al pareggio del capitano, Carlotta, con un buon sinistro da fuori area. Il secondo tempo ha veramente acceso la partita, con molte occasioni da una parte e dall'altra: l'Ajax ci è sembrato più organizzato in difesa (buone prestazioni di Isabel e Cyrielle) e più abile nello sfruttare palloni inattivi e ripartenze, con la velocità di Camilla e Sofia; il Besiktas invece, pur essendo squadra di grandi talenti, ha creato confusione con ripetuti cambi di portiere e non ha saputo sfruttare le numerose occasioni. Il gol del 2-2 momentaneo è stato segnato ancora da Elif, con un tiro alto che ha ingannato il portiere con un rimbalzo maligno. Buone anche le giocate di Aurora, sempre abile al tiro e di Emma e Anjali in difesa.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH POINTS: Camilla 12, Malika 4, Carlotta 2, Emma 2, Anjali 1

Bayern Munich 2 - 0 Barcelona

Vorsprung durch technik...und taktiken!
The Spanish champions were no match for their German counterparts in any part of the pitch today. Outplayed technically and tactically, their failure to deploy an out-and-out attacker saw them waste possession too often.
Bayern, on the contrary, defended and attacked as a team. In the first half in particular, Ale dB (today's Player of the Match) made a series of excellent saves, came off his line when needed, communicated well with his defence and distributed the ball accurately to an active midfield. Oliver played another controlled match in his anchor role and passed well to Jakob and Giovanni who made intelligent runs all day.
Jakob put his side up off a pass from Giovanni. Giovanni himself shot wide just after that, using his right foot when he needed to use his left. Ale dB made an early save from Francesco Gallo, Jakob turned a header just over the bar and then Ale dB came quikly off his line to deny Francesco T.
Francesco G then ran the whole pitch , beating three players, but Ale dB made another save at the end of it all. Francesco G followed up and nearly scored from an incredibly tight angle.
Then, just before half time, Giovani nabbed the second goal as Gregory and Darien got in each others' way.
There were lots more chances in the second half but the scoreline remained the same. Jakob played a lovely one-two with Giovanni but shot high; Oliver played Giovanni in but Darien saved; Francesco T shot one over and had another blocked by Ale dB; Darien saved two more, one from Giovanni the other from Jakob and then Caue spurned Barcelona's best chance of the half.
BEST PLAYER POINTS: Ale dB 12, Gregory 4, Jakob 3, Jacopo 1, Giovanni 1

BBQ Inter-Class Cup

Grade 8 won this year's BBQ Inter-Class Cup with victories over each of the younger classes. The sixth graders put up a good fight and took a point off the seventh graders and the seventh graders came second overall.

Grade 6 vs Grade 7-----RESULT 3-3
Simone put the youngsters into an early 1-0 lead but Grade 7 equalised when Julia turned a dangerous cross into her own net with Aurora ready to pounce on the far post. Idriss then handles the ball in the area and Ludovico tucked away the penalty. Simone scored again after Emilio and Julia played a nice one-two and the teams went in at half time at 2-2.
FrancescoG put Grade 7 ahead again with only a few minutes left in the second half but Grade 6 kept fighting. Simone came close again - he hit the crossbar - but Grade 6 finally equalized through a late own goal.

Grade 6 vs. grade 8-----RESULT 3-8
Though tired out after their earlier game, Grade 6 gave the veterans an early fright as Andrea S sent them into a two-goal lead! However, Allegra's own goal opened the floodgates and strikes by Matteo, MarcoT, Jakob (2), Marco S, Ale Z and Darien put them 8 - 2 up. Andrea completed his hat-trick to round off the scoreline.

Grade 7 vs. grade 8-----RESULT 3-4
The decisive match saw two more players grabbing a hat-trick - one for each side. FrancescoS made the score 1-1, 2-1 and 3-2 but Jakob made it 2-2, 3-3 and 4-3. The other goal was scored by Ale Z.

Overall it was a very enjoyable morning and PLAYER OF THE TOURNAMENT was Grade 7-'s goalkeeper MAX.