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| Thursday, 28 July 2011 21:29 |
Nacional victorious, Guimarães held in Europa League3-0 win for Islanders, 0-0 draw for Machado and co Continuing a busy week for Portuguese sides in Europe, Nacional and Vitoria de Guimaraes both flew the flag in the Europa League. An early opener from Luis Alberto and a brace from Mateus were enough to leave Ivo Vieira’s side with a commanding 3-0 lead over Hacken, whilst Guimaraes laboured to a 0-0 draw at Danish side Midtjylland.Ivo Vieira’s side were again backed by a vociferous crowd, the club having taken the sensible decision to repeat the free entry policy which drew 4800 supporters to last week’s meeting with FH of Iceland. The assembled crowd were given more than their money’s worth as their side hit the ground running, going 1-0 up after just twelve minutes. New signing Mario Rondon was involved, with midfielder Luis Alberto getting the final touch to leave their opponents on the back foot almost immediately. A pinpoint corner from Mihelic was met by the Venezuelan, and his Brazilian colleague was at the back post to stab home.
Nacional essentially killed off the match five minutes later. Mihelic was again the provider, and this time it was Mateus who benefited, firing a powerful shot beyond Kallqvist. The Brazilian got his second of the night on the stroke of half-time, and Nacional closed out the second half with ease. Whilst it remains to be seen how well Ivo Vieira juggles his squad once the Liga is underway, Nacional have undoubtedly set the early pace in Europe.
Goals:
[1-0] Luis Alberto, 12
[2-0] Mateus, 17
[3-0] Mateus, 45
In the night’s televised match, Vitoria de Guimaraes travelled to Herning to face Midtjylland. Manuel Machado plumped for the veteran pairing of Joao Alves and the returning Pedro Mendes alongside new signing El Adoua in midfield, with a (theoretically) mobile front three of Targino, Toscano and Faouzi.
Unfortunately for Machado (not to mention those who tuned in at home), his side appeared to be very much still in the grip of pre-season experimentation. Against opponents who appeared to be perfectly content to sit back and launch probing (read: aimless) long balls, Os Vimarenenses should have established themselves an early lead, and not just the unproductive possession that unfolded. El Adoua forced a smart save from Jensen with a well-struck low drive during the opening stages, whilst Targino was lively, almost embarrassing the Midtjylland defence when he seized upon a lax back pass; but their teammates appeared unable to raise the tempo by the notch that surely would have yielded a vital away goal.
The second half began at a brisk pace, with both sides exhibiting the unmistakeable signs of one that has just received a proverbial rocket from their coach. However, the encounter soon lapsed into a frustrating impasse, with the introduction of the towering Edgar succeeding only in providing the Midtjylland back line with ample opportunity to seek fouls from the referee.
Guimaraes rarely appeared under pressure – indeed, the two sides produced just a single shot on target throughout the whole encounter – and whilst a 0-0 draw away from home this early in the season is by no means a poor result; Manuel Machado will surely expect better from his men in one week’s time.
Ben Shave
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But what about world cup under 20!?I feel like no one cares!can you please provide us with some info about Portugal U20, the players and their profiles!!!!
Just read the report back and maybe it seems a bit negative on Guimaraes...in all fairness they were coming off pre-season, Machado is a defensive coach, and well, it is what it is. It was an awful game though, Sport TV made the wrong choice there. 0-0 away from home in Europe is undoubtedly a good result, they just should have got a goal, if you ask me.
Given how unambitious Midtjylland were, I'd fully expect Guimaraes to beat them at the Afonso Henriques.
On Paulo Sérgio - I haven't seen him at all during pre-season. I can only assume he's injured, as he definitely would have added a little life to that performance. I'm an Olhanense fan, I should know.
Braga and Sporting enter the competition at the next stage, yep. The draw is next Friday (5th).
Ben
I'm really proud of Nacional. Great win for them.
I was unable to pull up the attendance for this one, but I hope that it was more than the 4,800 they got for the last one.
By all accounts a nice job by Guimaraes as well. An away goal would have been huge, but a 0-0 away score line is ok.
Just win it at home.
this only means better leage results for small clubs getting more european experience
It may seem like I think its a rubbish result.. in fact its a great result.. most teams nowadays are delighted to get an away draw in Europe.. Nacional and Benfica will be happy to get draws in their away legs
History was also against Guimaraes today... Here's a fact from the dark past.. Guimaraes have only ever won 1 game away from home in Europe. After today its 28 games.. 1 away win.. Lucky for them their home record is slightly better with 15 wins fromthe 27 games. Lack of recent European action is also a factor. This was only the 11th game of Guimaraes in Europe during the past ten years. The top four teams last season played nearly 60 European games combined last season. It does help to have recent experience. They should get through next game though...
The Guimaraes game was possibly the worst soccer game I've eve EVER seen in my life. No excitment, no ambition, just really no fight. Manuel Machado went to Denmark to play for the draw plain and simple. When the supertaca comes around Guimaraes is going to be absolutely trashed by Porto.