Real Madrid 2-1 Barcelona

Barcelona lose today in El Clasico and now must wait to see the result between Ajax vs Bayern next Friday: if Ajax can avoid defeat, then they will qualify for the semi-finals with Barcelona missing out!
Real were deadly on the break today and Alex put them in front. After his splendid goal yesterday, Massimo M was looking to score again today but he missed two good chances. But Alex didn't miss when he found space 20m out and his shot into the top corner was a thing of beauty. Tommaso G pulled one back for Barcelona to give them some hope but time ran out and Real took the points.
BEST PLAYER POINTS: Alex 5, Augusto 4, Bernardo 2, Tommy G 2, Tommy S 2, Mateo 2, Theo 1, Massimo M 1, Dylan 1, Lucas 1

Bayern 2-2 Real Madrid

These two teams really tore into each other today and a packed Ambrit Stadium was entranced for 30'.
Edo put the German champions ahead but their celebrations were short-lived as Massimo M launched a long shot straight from the kick-off that dropped in just under the bar to level the scores. Real then took the lead when a fiercely struck free kick was bravely headed in by Dylan and it was left to Edo to rescue his team again - this time with a cheeky goal that saw him nip in to take advantage of a moment's confusion in the Bayern defence.
BEST PLAYER POINTS: Edo 6, Dylan M 3, Augusto 3, Mikel 2, Massimo M 2, Ludovico 1, Saverio 1, Richard 1, Adam 1, Alex 1

ANSPI u13: Ambrit 2-3 Vigna Pia

Under torrential rain, the result of this match wavered back and forth but, ultimately, some bad defensive errors cost Ambrit three points and a lot of pride in this keenly contested derby.
Vigna Pia took an early lead but Alessandro struck a beautiful shot with his left-foot to secure an equaliser. Both sides created a lot of chances but, once again, Ambrit's finishing was below standard. We got lots of shots in but many were wide. Free kicks and corners were wasted. Zach had three good chances but none were made to count, though one was denied by a miraculous save frpom the goalkeeper. The same goalkeeper made two extraordinary saves from Alessandro shots but Vigna Pia went ahead again. It was left to Alessandro to rescue the team again. He did. 2-2.... but Vigna Pia finished strongly. They burst through to score a winning goal and Ambrit were unable to equalise a third time.
TEAM: Santiago, Leo, Vittorio, Carlo, Mattia, Alessandro, Zach, Bertie, Tiago, Nicholas

Liverpool 1-0 Milan

Milan and Liverpool fought out an excellent match today and i rossoneri were unlucky to lose out to a late Giacomo goal.

Of course, Liverpool might easily have wrapped the game up earlier, were it not for a series of brilliant saves by Massimo. He saved shots with his hands, with his knees, with his feet; he rushed oout to clear dangerous balls; he kept his team in the game. Captain Paul was everywhere too, tackling passing, driving his team forward when possible; and Dylan and Andrea combined well in the last third.

But Liverpool were too strong for them in the end. Cristian was hungry for the ball and Giacomo and Valerio were always making runs to support him. Giacomo’s goal was a reward for persistence; he slammed home the third rebound off three Massimo saves.

BEST PLAYER POINTS: Paul 5, Massimo S 5, Cristian 5, Giacomo 3, Valerio 1, Dylan S 1, Pedro 1, Andrea, 1

ANSPI u13: Santos 4-2 Ambrit

With only six players against seven and playing away from home, Ambrit put up a good performance and might easily have won this game. Despite being a man short, Ambrit dominated possession and spent most of the game attacking.
The home side exploited the space well on the break and scored two early goals with quick breaks as Ambrit were still settling in.
Undaunted, Ambrit pressed high. Ale fed Mattia and Zach with lots of passes and Mattia's speed on the right opened up some chances. Santos resorted to fouls. Ale shot a free kick wide to the right but, with the next one, Vittrio drilled the ball low past the goalkeeper: 1-2 at the first break.
Unfortunately Santos began the second break as they had begun the first and Ambrit soon found themselves 4-1 down. But Ambrit came back again and Zach was terribly unlucky when the goalkeeper made an incredible save from his close-range header. But Zach kept niggling at the defenders and goalkeeper and it paid off when he made it 4-2 from a corner.
Ambrit now had 15' left to pull back two goals. They gave it everything. Mattia almost scored with a header, Carlo made sure the ball never passed the halfway line, Santiago - nominally in goal - played as a sweeper and kept the momentum high. Ale and Vittorio combined set up lots of chances but Santos managed to keep them at bay by blocking shots, by tackling, by fouling and by their goalkeeper making two more excellent saves.
TEAM: Santiago, Vittorio, Carlo, Alessandro, Zach, Mattia

Empoli 2-1 Perugia

Finalmente una partita degna di nota nel torneo femminile: due squadre vive, che si sono affrontate con grinta e voglia di vincere e - addirittura - con tre reti all'attivo! Il Perugia, in vantaggio grazie a una rete di Lucy, viene rimontato e superato grazie all'1-2 firmato Isabel e Raffaella. Questa vittoria porta l'Empoli provvisoriamente in testa alla classifica, nonostante l'unica sconfitta subita nel torneo, dimostrando che le vittorie hanno più importanza dei tanti pareggi finora visti...

PLAYER OF THE MATCH POINTS:
Agata 3, Yutong 3, Gala 2, Ameli 2, Raffaella 1, Chanel 1, Linh 2, Lucy 1, Millie 1, Isabel 1.

Milan 5-0 Bayern

Bayern offered little opposition today to a rampant Milan, driven by Paul (2 goals) and Dylan (3 goals).
BEST PLAYER POINTS: Dylan 6, Paul 5, Ludovico 3, Francesco 3, Taki 2, Jonah 1, Mattia 1

Ambrit Boys Top of the Table

In the season's opening round of u14 RISA league fixtures, Ambrit took full points with five wins out of five games and now sit comfortably at the top of the table. Santiago was a rock in goal but still needs to be more dominant; in front of him, the defence (Augusto, Sam, Massimo, Lucas) coped well but they do need to improve their heading skills. Alex protected the defence and passed well but needs to work on his left-foot; Andrea and Raffaele worked the left flank, the former in particular punching regular holes in the opposing defence. Tommaso and Edo ran patterns all day, controlling the ball, jinking past opponents, passing and shooting with accuracy and power.

Ambrit 2-1 New School
The first game was crucial, a tough opener against last year's champions New School. Ambrit absorbed some early pressure and then took the lead through Tommaso. The game was keenly contested but Ambrit got some breathing space when Andrea made it 2-0. Ambrit were under pressure for the last few minutes. NSR pulled one back but Ambrit hung on!

Ambrit 1-0 Southlands
Despite constant pressure, despite a missed penalty and despite creating a million chances, it looked like Ambrit would never score in this game... but then, with just a couple of minutes left, Tommaso scored a stunning goal. Turning tightly past two defenders, he used dummy runs from Edo and Alex to carve a path past the last two defenders and fire the ball home. Geniale!

Ambrit 3-2 St George's 
Again Ambrit dominated the opening exchanges but this time they were caught on the break and went behind. Another wave of Ambrit attacks brought a quick equaliser through Edoardo but, in this ding-dong battle, SGBIS went ahead again. However Ambrit were determined to get something from this game and they equalised again when Tommaso scored. The bonus came when Massimo was taken down in the penalty area and the captain himself stepped up to blast home the resulting penalty!  

Ambrit 8-1 AOSR A
Andrea scored the first goal off Edoardo’s assist. Massimo got the second, assist from Edoardo. AOSR managed to get one in for the 2-1 but Ambrit responded with 5 more goals. Edoardo scored off an assist from Alex. Tommaso put in the fourth goal, followed by Alex and Edoardo scoring two more goals to finish with Edoardo putting in the final 8th goal.

Ambrit 3-1 AOSR B
With goals from Massimo off an Alex assist. Tommaso had two great goals - one from midfield shot straight to the goal.

Liverpool 4-1 Barcelona

Barcelona were without Mateo today but they still made it a competitive match; the 4-1 scoreline flattered Liverpool.
Cristian scored two early goals for the Reds - both from free kicks - and these two blows knocked the stuffing out of Barca. Giacomo struck with a beautifully-taken volley to make it 3-0 and Cristian hammered home his hat-trick. The Barcelona consolation goal was well-taken by Bertie, who calmly chipped it over an advancing Santiago.
BEST PLAYER POINTS: Cristian 4, Giacomo 3, Tommaso G 3, Tommaso S 3, Santiago 2, Bertie 2, Valerio 2, Zach 1, Diego 1

Red Card for Andrea (pitch invasion) - misses next match

Real Madrid 2-1 Ajax

Without captain Guillermo, los galacticos still manage to pull off an important victory over Pietr's Dutch Meisters at Ambrit Stadium today.
Nikos was unlucky not to put his team in front when his cross/shot ecvaded everybody and came back off the inside of the post into Bernard's arms.
Instead it was Real who drew first blood following a fantastic series of passes between Alex and Dylan with Alex applying the finishing touch.
Nikos scored an equaliser with a trademark shot of precision into the top corner, giving the impression that he might easily have scored more. But he didn't and nor did Ajax play with enough urgency and, when Dylan popped up to make it 2-1, they could only look on with incredulity.
BEST PLAYER POINTS: Sam 6, Alex 4, Dylan M 3, Pietro 3, Giorgio, Nikos, Lucas, Augusto, Massimo M

Real Madrid 3-2 Liverpool

After a series of mediocre games, these two teams finally fed the hungry spectators a banquet of football today in a match that swung first one way and then the other.
Los Merengues took the lead when Guillermo passed to Alex and the Trastevere Ace made no mistake. Liverpool re-doubled their efforts now to get back in the game and Giacomo's energy won them a lot of ball in midfield. But Madrid increased their lead when Dylan picked up a loose ball and flicked it home.
There was a slight whiff of desperation now as Liverpool attacked. Too many long balls were mopped up by Guillermo and Augusto was quick to attack any player in possession. But Liverpool did score. At the end of a concerted attack, Cristian played in Giacomo and, after the keeper had saved his shot, Santiago followed up to cooly slot home.
Invigorated, Liverpool continued to press. A well-taken corner was met perfectly by Cameron's head and the net bulged again.
Now only minutes remained but neither side would settle for a point. Both continued to attack but fortune was smiling on the Spanish Champions today. Alex won a ball on the right, squared to Massimo M on the left and his first time shot just inside the post gave Zach no chance at all.
BEST PLAYER POINTS: Guillermo 4, Alex 3, Giacomo 3, Santiago 3, Cameron 2, Dylan 2, Cristian 2, Valerio 1, Massimo M 1

NOTE: Red cards for Marco, Mikel, Milo, Edo, Massimo S... all will miss next game

Palermo 0-0 Perugia

Ennesimo pareggio all'Ambrit Stadium, dove Palermo e Perugia si affrontano con grinta ma non riescono ad andare oltre lo 0-0. Le migliori occasioni sono capitate a Giorgia (tiro dalla distanza, fuori di poco) e Lucy, da una parte; ad Eleonora e Alice dall'altra. In evidenza Liva, che ha provato costantemente a gestire la palla senza necessariamente calciare a caso. Buona prova di Linh e Sofia nelle rispettive difese, e di Eleonora, sempre attiva a centrocampo, ma meno lucida del solito in fase conclusiva.
Il torneo rimane dunque molto aperto, vedremo nelle prossime settimane se una squadra riuscirà ad emergere...

PLAYER OF THE MATCH POINTS:
Eleonora 5, Sofia 3, Liva 3, Millie 2, Atena 2, Alice M 2, Linh 1, Alice T 1, Giorgia 1, Chanel 1.

Perugia 0-0 Verona

Un match combattuto, ma con poche occasioni da gol: continua la crisi dei marcatori nel campionato femminile! Nonostante la foga e il grande agonismo in campo, la qualità del gioco e la poca abitudine a portare avanti la palla hanno segnato una partita poco spettacolare. Alcune ragazze si sono distinte per intensità e determinazione, in particolare Chanel, dominante al centro del campo ma ancora tecnicamente immatura.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH POINTS:
Chanel 4, Carolina S 2, Naomi 2, Allegra 2, Flavia 2, Giorgia 2.

ANSPI u13: Ambrit 6-0 CRIS

With CRIS having dominated last year's u11 league, Ambrit feared the worst when CRIS arrived for last night's match following Tuesday night's defeat to San Leonardo.
But we needn't have worried.
With a full squad, Ambrit settled quickly into the game, putting their opponents under pressure from the start. Alessandro scored early on to settle the nerves and, in a period dominated by the home side, Tiago made it 2-0 off an Ale assist.
Early in the second half, Alessandro stole the ball in midfield and thundered a shot off the post. Tiago forced the goalkeeper into two saves and then Alessandro made it 3-0 with a shot that rattled in off the bar.
Alessandro scored two more in the third period and Bertie got onto the scoresheet too. Ambrit now look forward with confidence to game 3: away to Santos, Fri Nov 15th, 18.00.

Barcelona 1-0 Bayern

A terrible game today: not much passing, not much shooting, not much excitement. One goal from Tommy was enough to decide the game.

BEST PLAYER POINTS: Tommy G 4, Tommy S 3, Mateo 3, Theo 2, Edo 1, Ludo 1, Mikel 1, Adam 1, Mattia 1, Lorenzo 1, Bertie 1, Taki 1, Saverio 1

ANSPI u13: San Leonardo 2-0 Ambrit

Having wasted umpteen chances to score, nobody is quite sure how Ambrit contrived to lose this match.
Ale set the tone, hitting the post after only three minutes. Carlo tested the goalkeeper early on and, towards the end of the first period, Mattia tested him again and Zach hit the bar.
But the teams went in at the end of the first period at 0-0.
No change in the second period. Ale set up Bertie for an early chance but the goalkeeper was having a great game. He saved again from Vittorio, again from Carlo, Mattia hit the post AGAIN and then, totally out of the blue, Ambrit were caught on the break and the home team went 1-0 up!
In the third period, Ambrit continued to attack. Zach put a shot wide, Mattia missed an open goal... and then San Leonardo scored again.
Lots of lessons to be learned, on and off the field!
TEAM: Bertie, Vittorio, Carlo, Alessandro, Mattia, Zach