Arsenal FC :: Life after Thierry Henry.

[Maree]

i really like the outlook of your posts and everything...

what will be the prime in this year for Arsenal?

champions league or premiership ?

[Mark.]

Good to see the formations up there, IMO I would have Cesc push up a little more, almost play a 4-1-3-2.

I take it you dont have Wilshire in your game then. Anyway get Lansbury into that line-up, im not totally sure about FIFA Manager, but in FM 08 he becomes class, especially as an AM. I would have thought Rhys Murphy would be better as a Striker, but playing him as Wingback will give you some great attacking options.

[kibaxx7]

This is awesome! Presentation and coverage looks fantastic! Some great games, but didn't have too many goals to show for it. Just one of those games, huh?

Hehe yeah, I already played the other games so I will post them today. We have a champion

i really like the outlook of your posts and everything...

what will be the prime in this year for Arsenal?

champions league or premiership ?

It will be Champions League... obviously, we have our attention in Premiership too.

Good to see the formations up there, IMO I would have Cesc push up a little more, almost play a 4-1-3-2.

I take it you dont have Wilshire in your game then. Anyway get Lansbury into that line-up, im not totally sure about FIFA Manager, but in FM 08 he becomes class, especially as an AM. I would have thought Rhys Murphy would be better as a Striker, but playing him as Wingback will give you some great attacking options.

I will try with Cesc then I thought I had Wilshire, but I don't... I was thinking in moving Gibbs to CM position and put Lansbury in LM. Rhys Murphy is the only defender I have who con play at left

[c0nr4d]

lovin the presentation man

how about some high octane scoring u ever thought about maybe adding vids too? since we can embed them now in the forum.

[shadowgrin]

Who's willing to bet with me on when the earliest this will be abandoned by thierryhenry50 again?

It won't.

I'm counting the days th50, I'm counting.
This story hasn't passed the 1 week mark yet, just an update.

[GoHornets]

Excluding Andrew's; It seems that the more complete the dynasty is, the earlier it is abandoned.
I hope this is not the case.

[kibaxx7]

Arsenal FC - 2 (0)
---- Almunia; Sagna, Touré, Gallas, Clichy; Walcott, Flamini, Fabregas, Rosický; Van Persie, Eduardo :: 4-4-2
---- 48' Eduardo (1-0); 53' Van Persie (2-0); 73' Hoyte Sagna; 81' Flamini
Inter Milan - 1 (0)
---- Toldo; Maicon, Chivu, Samuel, Iván Córdoba; Zanetti, Cambiasso, Vieira; Stankovic; Ibrahimovic; Adriano :: 4-3-1-2
---- 31' Zanetti; 55' Chivu; 71' Adriano (1-2); 79' Maxwell Iván Córdoba

LONDON, July 29 -- Arsenal win over Inter and second in a row means the club are now the inaugural champions of the Emirates Cup. Inter could only gain 2 points, after a draw against Valencia and the goal from Adriano against the Gunners. Arsène Wenger's team held on for an important victory which gives them the title, despite Adriano's late consolation for the Nerazzurro. Inter's players had admitted in the build-up to the game they needed to play better than in the game against Valencia.

The first half only left a couple of shots from both teams, also a yellow card for Javier Zanetti after a strong foul on Mathieu Flamini. Both squad could only promised to be better in the second half of the game. Roberto Mancini's team made the worst possible start as Eduardo put the Gunners ahead after just three minutes; the Italians were the architects of their own downfall, as goalkeeper Francesco Toldo badly misjudged a cross and left the Croatian with an open goal. The striker gratefully tapped in to give Arsenal an advantage they barely deserved.

Only three minutes later, at 6th minute, Inter players picked themselves up and could have levelled when Zlatan Ibrahimovic fired a low shot just wide. Then, in the following play, Gunners goalkeeper Manuel Almunia then did brilliantly to keep out Dejan Stankovic's volley after the visitors pressed for an equaliser.

But Wenger's side doubled their lead at the 53rd minute, following another defensive mistake. This time, Robin Van Persie was left completely unmarked at a corner and headed past Toldo. Inter's mistakes proved costly. Only two minutes after that, a Christian Chivu foul on Francesc Fabregas gave the Spaniard a wonderful free kick to score the third, but he shot wide.

Around the hour mark, Inter began to dominate possession and should have got back into the game. Ibrahimovic fired straight at Almunia from close-range and then Adriano's shot deflected just wide a minute later. Substitute Maxwell and Adriano, again, squandered two fantastic chances. The visitors did finally pull a goal back in the 71st minute through the ex-Flamengo, but they couldn't find the leveller.

Paris Saint Germain - 1 (0)
---- Landreau; Mendy, Camara, Yépes, Armand; Clément, Rothen, Digard; Gallardo; Luyindula, Pauleta :: 4-3-1-2
---- 42' Pauleta (1-0); 55' Rothen; 73' Sakho Camara
Valencia CF - 2 (0)
---- Hildebrand; Miguel, Caneira, Iván Helguera, Moretti; Joaquín, Baraja, Albelda, Silva; Villa, Zigic :: 4-4-2
---- 52' Villa (1-1); 66' Angulo Joaquín; 88' Zigic (1-2); 90+1' Moretti

LONDON, July 29 -- A late Nikola Zigic header fired Valencia to a 2-1 victory against Paris Saint Germain on the 2nd round of the Emirates Cup. Pauleta, with three minutes remaining in the first half, gave the hosts the advantage. But, in a game of few chances where neither goalkeeper was really tested, David Villa, and with two minutes left, Zigic, struck Valencia's goals in the second half to take the win for the Spanish side.

With less than three minutes left in the first half, Pauleta latched onto Marcelo Gallardo's cross and shot low into the middle of goal from the centre of the penalty area; the Spanish side almost immediately drew level but Joaquín's 20-yard effort flew wide of the right post, in first half injury time.

In the second half, the French team almost doubled their lead in stunning fashion, as Jerome Rothen's 30-yard thunderbolt skimmed the outside of the right-hand post... and they missed two opportunities in quick succession five minutes later.

Another Rothen's shot from the edge of the area was cleared by Iván Helguera and Didier Digard latched on to the ensuing corner but could only fire wide. Valencia quickly worked their way back into the game; 52nd minute, Mario Yepes had to react quickly to clear a powerful long-range strike from the ever-dangerous Villa.

Marco Caneira should have scored at the other end shortly after but he headed David Albelda's free-kick just wide. In the following play, PSG were left to rue their missed opportunities of the first half, as Villa netted with a fierce shot into the bottom right corner from the edge of the box. The French side tried to restore their lead but could not find a way past the defence. At the 79minute, with a "chilena" (overhead kick), Zigic almost scores an incredible goal to get the winner (see pic).

Just as the match seemed destined to be heading for a draw, Zigic pounced; with two minutes remaining, the Serbian striker headed home a corner from David Silva. PSG could have snatched a draw right at the death but Valencia keeper Timo Hildebrand reacted well to catch Peguy Luyindula's powerful 25-yard drive.

[kibaxx7]

(remember, 3 points per win, 1 point per draw, 0 points per loss, and 1 point extra per goal scored).

[kibaxx7]

lovin the presentation man

how about some high octane scoring u ever thought about maybe adding vids too? since we can embed them now in the forum.

Yeah, I was thinking about videos... may try for 1st Premiership game.

I'm counting the days th50, I'm counting.
This story hasn't passed the 1 week mark yet, just an update.

C'mon man, don't be harsh... will last for a long time... I hope.

Excluding Andrew's; It seems that the more complete the dynasty is, the earlier it is abandoned.
I hope this is not the case.

Yeah, it happened for me before

[Chaser7]

Excluding Andrew's; It seems that the more complete the dynasty is, the earlier it is abandoned.
I hope this is not the case.

That might be one of the most wrong statements ever.... Andrew hasn't updated his dynasty in over a month, I've still doing mine since December. Clutch hasn't been on in a month but he started his dynasty in July went al the way until like february, and then a little bit of march. I think the reason you think that is because you only have been looking at the newbies dynasties... lol

Oh and TH50, nice job winning the cup, good luck in the regular season and the champions league. Also why didn't you play all 3 teams though? Its a little weird no?

[L10]

Top notchs recaps! Very interesting story, good luck with this! I will try to follow it because i love soccer and you are from Argentina just as me

[Mark.]

Nice job on winning to Tourny I just got FIFA Manager 08, got some stupid sound issue though and for some reason I can't install the patch due to my game being corrupt :S

[kibaxx7]

Oh and TH50, nice job winning the cup, good luck in the regular season and the champions league. Also why didn't you play all 3 teams though? Its a little weird no?

Yeah a little weird, but I followed the real life fixtures... dunno.

Top notchs recaps! Very interesting story, good luck with this! I will try to follow it because i love soccer and you are from Argentina just as me

Thanks a lot

Nice job on winning to Tourny I just got FIFA Manager 08, got some stupid sound issue though and for some reason I can't install the patch due to my game being corrupt :S

Thanks man... What happened to your game? Strange Catch me @ MSN, maybe we can fix it...

Later today comes the preview for the 1st Premiership game.

[kibaxx7]

Don't say I abandoned this already, my Internet connection is not working, I'm not in my house...

[Drex]

This is the beggining of the end.

[Srbija]

Looking very good so far. Like the idea that you included the Emirates Cup to add realism. Hopefully you can continue this one through to the end and I'll sure be following to see how you develop the young gunners.

[kibaxx7]

:lol: This is the beggining of the end.

Thanks for the enthusiasm...

Looking very good so far. Like the idea that you included the Emirates Cup to add realism. Hopefully you can continue this one through to the end and I'll sure be following to see how you develop the young gunners.

I was thinking in adding the Amsterdam Tournament too (the one Arsenal played against Lazio, Ajax, At. Madrid), but not sure yet. Then we will have the season preview...

As you can see I'm still checking the forums, the thing is I'm not in my house, so I can't make any updates.

[Drex]

You've disappointed me way too many times, dude. You have to earn back my respect

[GoHornets]

I hope this is not the end.
Anyway, I enjoyed looking at Venom's sig.

[kibaxx7]

You've disappointed me way too many times, dude. You have to earn back my respect

Well... this dynasty won't stop. I already have plans for the next season, and it hasn't even started yet

I hope this is not the end.

It won't...

Still without Internet connection.

[kibaxx7]

.:: Arsenal to take place in Amsterdam
Gunners head to Netherlands for another prestigious pre-season affair

The International Event Partnership (IEP) is delighted to confirm the participation of three famous teams from the strongest leagues in the world to join host Ajax in the LG Amsterdam Tournament 2007. Arsenal, SS Lazio and Atlético Madrid will play on Thursday 2 and Saturday 4 August in the ninth edition of the biggest pre-season tournament in the world. These teams, with a combination of international stars and fantastic young talent, will decide who will take the trophy from Manchester United. Ajax first plays Atlético Madrid and on Saturday the Dutch Cup winners will encounter Arsenal in the Amsterdam ArenA.

"It is an honour for Arsenal to take part in a new edition of the LG Amsterdam Tournament," said Arsène Wenger in press conference. In 2005 the team took the trophy back to London and is now eager to win it again.

LG Electronics, one of the world’s largest producers of electronics and ICT-products, is the main title sponsor of the LG Amsterdam Tournament for the third consecutive year. As usual there will be point system at the LG Amsterdam Tournament, similar to the Emirates Cup, with extra points given for each goal scored, which makes it possible for a team which loses its first game, still to win the tournament on Saturday. This system encourages attacking and spectacular play.

.:: Ten Facts on... AFC Ajax Amsterdam

• The club is historically one of the three clubs that dominate the Dutch national football league (Eredivisie), the other two being Feyenoord Rotterdam and PSV Eindhoven.
  
• Ajax is one of the five teams that has earned the right to keep the European Cup; they won consecutively in 1971/72 and 1972/73.
  
• In 1972, they completed The Treble by winning the Dutch Eredivisie, KNVB Cup, and the European Cup; to date they are the only team to keep the European Cup and accomplish the European Treble.
  
• Ajax are one of the only two teams to win the The Treble and the Intercontinental Cup in the same season (1971/72).
  
• They are one of only three clubs to have won all three major European trophies at least once (the European Cup, the European Cup Winners' Cup and the UEFA Cup).
  
• They are the first team to win what has become the UEFA Intertoto Cup. Ajax has also won the Intercontinental Cup twice.
  
• The club was founded in Amsterdam on March 18, 1900 by Floris Stempel, Carel Reeser and the brothers Han & Johan Dade. It was the second incarnation, after a short-lived previous attempt (as the Footh-Ball Club Ajax) in 1894.
  
• After several years, Ajax succeeded in promotion to the highest level of football in 1911, under the guidance of Jack Kirwan, their first official coach. Besides the achievement itself, this year turned out to be another historical milestone: due to the fact that Sparta Rotterdam (a respected and successful football club in those days) already wore the jersey with the vertical red and white stripes, Ajax was prompted to alter its own design with the famous red-and-white combination that they have donned as their home outfit until this day.
  
• In 1970, Ajax reached the semi-finals of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, being knocked out by Arsenal after defeating Hannover 96, Napoli, Ruch Chorzów and Carl Zeiss Jena.
  
• The club is afilliated with clubs from China (Beijing Gouan), United States (Ajax America), South Africa (Ajax Cape Town) and also in Netherlands (HFC Haarlem, FC Volendam and FC Ominworld).

.:: Ten Facts on... Atlético Madrid

• Their home stadium is the Vicente Calderón Stadium, which currently holds up to 55,000 spectators.
  
• The club is one of the most successful in Spanish League history, having won both La Liga and the Copa del Rey on nine occasions, including a double in 1996.
  
• During their history, the club have been known by a number of nicknames including los colchoneros or the mattresses due to their first team stripes being the same colours as old-fashioned mattresses. During the 1970s they became known as los indios. This was allegedly due to the club signing several South American players after the restrictions on signing foreign players was lifted.
  
• The club was originally founded on 26 April 1903 as Athletic Club de Madrid by three Basque students living in Madrid. The founders saw the new club as a branch of Athletic Bilbao. In 1904 they were joined by dissident members of Madrid FC.
  
• First Atletico's ground, 'Ronda de Vallecas', was situated in the homonym working-class area south of the city. In 1919, the Compañía Urbanizadora Metropolitana—the company that ran the underground communication system in Madrid—acquired some land, near the Ciudad Universitaria. As part of that project the company built a sports stadium, named Estadio Metropolitano de Madrid. With a capacity for 35.800 spectators, in 1923 it was rented by Atlético de Madrid, which used it until 1966 when they moved to the new Estadio Vicente Calderón.
  
• In 1930, they were relegated to the Segunda División. They briefly returned to the Primera División in 1934, with Fred Pentland in charge. The club were relegated again in 1936 after Josep Samitier took over in mid-season. However, the Spanish Civil War gave the club a reprieve and both La Liga and Athletic's relegation were postponed.
  
• By 1939, when La Liga had resumed, Athletic had merged with Aviación Nacional of Zaragoza to become Athletic Aviación de Madrid. The team were awarded a place in the 1939-40 Primera División only as a replacement for Real Oviedo whose ground had been damaged during the war. With Ricardo Zamora as manager, the club subsequently won their first La Liga in 1940 and then retained the title in 1941. The same year, a decree issued by the Spanish government banned teams from using foreign names and the club became Atlético Aviacion de Madrid. In 1947 the club decided to drop the military association from its name and settled on its current name Club Atlético de Madrid. The same year saw Atlético beat Real Madrid 5-0 at the Metropolitano, to date their biggest win over their rivals.
  
• Shortly after the defeat in the 1974 European Cup, Atlético appointed their veteran player Luis Aragonés as coach. His first success came quickly, in the Intercontinental Cup. Their opponents were Independiente of Argentina and, after losing the away leg 1-0, they won the return leg 2-0 with goals from Javier Irureta and Rubén Ayala.
  
• The 1999/00 season proved disastrous for Atlético. Then coach Claudio Ranieri was sacked with the club heading towards relegation and the return of Radomir Antic for a third time failed to prevent the inevitable. Despite reaching the Copa del Rey final, Atlético were relegated, and spent two seasons in the Segunda División, narrowly missing out on promotion in 2001 before winning the Segunda División championship in 2002.
  
• In July 2007 Atlético board reached an agreement with the town hall to sell the land where the Stadium is built and the team would move to the olympic stadium owned by the city. Atlético would be allowed to play in Vicente Calderón stadium until 2010. The new stadium would be owned by the club on 2016, as the city is applying to host the Olympic games on this year.

.:: Ten Facts on... SS Lazio

• Lazio has won Serie A twice, first in 1973–74 and then again in 1999–00. Home games are played at the Stadio Olimpico, a stadium they share with rivals AS Roma.
  
• As well as winning four Coppa Italia trophies, Lazio have earned silverware on the European stage, winning the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and UEFA Super Cup both in 1999.
  
• Società Podistica Lazio, or Lazio Track & Field Club was founded on January 9, 1900 in the Prati district of Rome. Wanting to encompass more than just the city of Rome that they were from, the club's nine original founding members chose to name Lazio after the region in which the city is located (Lazio).
  
• Lazio joined league competition in 1912 as soon as the Italian Football Federation began organizing championships in the center and south of Italy, and reached the final of the national championship playoff three times, but never won. In 1927 Lazio was the only major Roman club which resisted the Fascist regime's attempts to merge all the city's teams into what would become A.S. Roma the same year. The club played in the first organized Serie A in 1929.
  
• The 1950s produced a mix of mid and upper table results with an Italian Cup win in 1958. Lazio was relegated for the first time in 1961 to the Serie B, but returned two years later. Under Argentinian coach Juan Carlos Lorenzo, Lazio's tight defence ensured a credible 8th place finish in 1964 with a paltry 21 goals scored and a stingy 24 conceded. A 3-0 away win over Juventus was a highlight of the season.
  
• Lazio were forcibly relegated to Serie B in 1980 due to a remarkable scandal concerning illegal bets on their own matches, along with Milan. They remained in Italy's second division for three seasons in what would mark the darkest period in Lazio's history. They would return in 1983 and manage a last-day escape from relegation the following season..
  
• The arrival of Sergio Cragnotti, in 1992, changed the club's history forever as he was prepared to invest long term in new players for the club in order to make the team a competitor on the Serie A level. Cragnotti repeatedly broke transfer records in pursuit of players who were considered major stars, as Juan Sebastian Veron, Christian Vieri, and breaking the world transfer record, albeit only for a matter of weeks, to sign Hernan Crespo.
  
• In 1993 Lazio finished 5th in Serie A, 4th in 1994, 2nd in 1995, 3rd in 1996, and 4th again in 1997, then it lost the championship just by one point to AC Milan on the last championship's match in 1999 before finally winning its second scudetto in 2000, as well as the Italian Cup in an impressive and rare (by Italian standards) "double" with Sven-Göran Eriksson (1997-2001) as manager.
  
• A financial scandal involving Cragnotti and his food products multinational Cirio forced him to leave the club in 2002, and Lazio was controlled until 2004 by caretaker financial managers and a bank pool. This forced the club to sell their star players and even the "symbol" of the club - club captain Alessandro Nesta - in quick succession.
  
• On July 14, it was announced that they had been relegated to Serie B with a 7 point penalty for their involvement in match-fixing scandal. The club's appeal was successful and in a judgment released on July 25, Lazio's penalty was reduced to an 11 point deduction in the following Serie A season (subsequently further reduced to 3 points) and a 30 point deduction in the previous Serie A season, resulting in the loss of their qualification to the following UEFA Cup. Despite a later-reduced points deduction, Lazio achieved a 3rd place finish in the 2006/2007, just falling short of breaking the club record for games won in succession - the current squad racked up 8 wins in a row, and qualified for the UEFA Champions League group stage after beating Dinamo Bucharest, 4-2 (1-1 in the 1st leg and a 3-1 win in the 2nd leg).

[Mark.]

Im looking forward to this tournament, lets see some amazing goals from Kun Aguero

[Chaser7]

Nice preview.. again.

This is all part of the regular Manager mode in Fifa 08? I didn't realize there were so many preseason games.

[kibaxx7]

Im looking forward to this tournament, lets see some amazing goals from Kun Aguero

Thanks man... Aguero is playing a key part in Madrid squad.

Nice preview.. again.

This is all part of the regular Manager mode in Fifa 08? I didn't realize there were so many preseason games.

No... I'm playing this preseason games to try different players in different positions.

Tomorrow comes the recap for the complete Amsterdam Tournament... as I have a lot of homework to do!

[kibaxx7]

SS Lazio - 1 (1)
---- Ballotta; Scaloni, Siviglia, Cribari, Zauri; Makinwa, Mutarelli, Ledesma, Behrami; Rocchi, Pandev :: 4-4-2
---- 21' Ledesma; 45' + 1' Rocchi (1-1); 79' Mauri Rocchi
Arsenal FC - 1 (1)
---- Lehmann; Eboue, Touré, Senderos, Traoré; Denilson, Fabregas; Hleb, Rosický; Eduardo, Bendtner :: 4-2-2-2
---- 9' Bendtner (1-0); 61' Hleb; 73' Walcott Hleb

AMSTERDAM, August 2 -- Emirates Cup winners Arsenal and Italian outfit, SS Lazio, shared the points on the first round of the LG Amsterdam Tournament, after fighting out a 1-1 draw at the Amsterdam ArenA. Nicklas Bendtner put the English team ahead in the ninth minute, with Lazio veteran Tomasso Rocchi rescuing the hosts with an excellent solo effort.

Lazio's Goran Pandev had a great chance to give the hosts an early lead after Cristian Ledesma's excellent run down the right forced a corner in the first minute, but Pandev fired a right-footed volley over the crossbar as he connected with Massimo Mutarelli's delivery. However, it was Arsène Wenger's team who took the lead in the ninth minute after Tomas Rosický and Denilson linked up well on the left side of the penalty area; the latter floated in a lobbed pass which Bendtner controlled and then shot past Marco Ballotta in the Lazio goal.

Eduardo almost doubled the lead in style ten minutes later as he hit Ballotta's left post. The Croatian striker connected well with Emmanuel Eboue's cross from the right before unleashing a fine volley on the turn. Lazio's immediate response was to play the ball out wide but a number of crosses from Mutarelli and Ledesma failed to pick out Pandev in the area.

In the first minute of the injury time, Rocchi levelled the score with a brilliant piece of individual skill. The striker passed two defenders as he weaved his way into the area before firing a right-footed effort past Jens Lehmann. After the interval, neither side really looked like making a breakthrough; Rosický curled a free-kick over the bar five minutes into the second half after he himself had been fouled.

In the 75th minute, another Eboue cross from the right wing found its way to substitute Theo Walcott who headed over under pressure. With 5 minutes remaining, Kolo Touré headed a Hleb cross just over the bar in what was to be the last real chance either side had of taking all three vital points.

AFC Ajax Amsterdam - 1 (0)
---- Stekelenburg; Vermaelen, Heitinga, Stam, Emanuelson; Rommedahl, Gabri, Davids; Mitea, Huntelaar, Luque :: 4-3-3
---- 10' Rommedahl; 77' Luis Suárez Luque; 88' Mitea (1-1); 90' + 1' Luque
Atlético Madrid - 1 (1)
---- Abbiati; Seitaridis, Pablo Ibañez, Perea, Antonio López; Simao, Maxi Rodríguez, Motta, Reyes; Forlán, Agüero :: 4-4-2
---- 27' Forlán (1-0); 42' Perea; 66' Raúl García Reyes; 86' Motta

AMSTERDAM, August 2 -- Nicolae Mitea struck a last-gasp equaliser for Ajax in a 1-1 draw to deny Atletico Madrid a win in the first round of the LG Amsterdam Tournament. Diego Forlán looked to have set the visitors on their way to three points when he broke the deadlock midway through the first half, but Romania frontman Mitea had not read the script and levelled matters in the 88th minute.

The home team could have gone ahead in the fourth minute when Dennis Rommedahl's left-footed shot from 20 yards forced a brilliant save from Atletico goalkeeper Christian Abbiati. Sergio Agüero was presented with the first chance for the visitors of note five minutes latern but could only head wide from Luis Perea's cross.

Ajax went on to create the better of the opportunities in the opening period, but failed to test Abbiati; Edgar Davids tried his luck from distance in the 21st minute but struck his effort wide, and Albert Luque's header also failed. For Atletico Madrid, José Antonio Reyes' right-footed blast from the right side was blocked by Maarten Stekelenburg, but moments later the away team were ahead when Forlán found the bottom-right corner with his right foot. Looking for the equalizer, Gabri found himself well placed in the six-yard box in the 32nd minute but again he shot wide and Urby Emanuelson's attempt from the left side of the penalty area six minutes later also missed the target. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar had one last chance for the home team in first-half stoppage time but his 20-yard strike flew past Abbiati's right-hand upright.

The visitors started the second half brightly, looking for a second goal, with Agüero heading wide from Reyes' outswinging corner. Thiago Motta then tried to catch Stekelenburg off-guard from 25 yards but failed to test the goalkeeper as he shot wide. Abbiati had to be alert to keep out an effort from Huntelaar five minutes later, but it was Stekelenburg who was the busier keeper in the last half-hour. Ajax searched for the equaliser but struggled to create any clear-cut chances. Rommedahl's 71st-minute effort from 35 yards was caught by Abbiati, while Jaap Stam saw his header cleared by Perea over the line. Maxi Rodriguez had an opportunity to double the visitors' advantage and make sure of the points at the other end two minutes later, but his shot was too high; Raúl García then teed up the Argentinian but he failed to hit the target with his left-footed effort.

Atletico were made to pay for those two misses in the 89th minute when Mitea lashed high into the net from Thomas Vermaelen's right-wing cross to restore parity with virtually the last kick of the game.