Report | OneFootball

Ángel Donato's team lined up as follows: Diego Piqueras; Romeo Hueso, Miguel Gil, Daniel Pérez, Daniel Muñoz; Ian Mencía, Taufik Seidu; Rubén Gómez, Sergio Vinatea, Jorge Rajado; Jesús Barrios. At least, this is the arrangement according to UEFA, surprising due to the position of some players.

It seemed they wanted to intimidate the opponent in the early stages, but the first blow came from the red and whites. Vinatea, playing as an attacking midfielder, sent a filtered pass to Rajado for the winger to dribble past the Israeli goalkeeper in the area and score the 1-0 with ease. Atleti gradually cornered a Maccabi Haifa that tried to counterattack, without success. Donato's team combined with few passes near the edge of the box, with that "touch and go" style suitable only for skilled players, and they were close to a second goal.

The visitors, seeing they couldn't even approach the midfield, preferred to use dirty play based on hitting and attacking the first red and white player they encountered. One of them even kneed an Atlético player in the lower parts, which should have been punished with a direct red card, and, as things go in football, the opposing coach decided to substitute him.

Atleti had more approaches, continued combining near Maccabi's area but without luck, while Taufik kept receiving hits from the Israelis. And so we reached halftime.

At the start of the second half, there was first a double chance by Barrios and Rajado, and shortly after Rubén Gómez tried from long distance. Taufik Seidu was replaced by David Fernández, and immediately there was a response from the opponent with a left-footed shot that grazed the left post of the goal defended by Diego Piqueras. There were more red and white changes: Gonzalo Gross, Cristian Grant, and Gabriel Obama came in for Rubén Gómez, Romeo Hueso, and Sergio Vinatea. And in a play that was initially going to end in a goal kick, the Atlético defense cleared and the rebound was picked up by the opponent to equalize. Joel Sánchez came in for Jesús Barrios, and Atleti couldn't take the lead again in the added time. It was time to decide the pass from the penalty spot.

Joel was the first to shoot, scoring the 1-0. David Fernández made it 2-1 and Diego Piqueras became the hero of the tie. The 16-year-old goalkeeper saved the penalty from Sztejfman, and Gabriel Obama scored the third for the red and whites. From there, no shooter missed, including a great tight shot from center-back Dani Pérez. And the icing on the cake was put by the red and white scorer, Jorge Rajado, with a special run-up and deceiving the opposing goalkeeper. Alcalá erupted in joy and happiness seeing their team qualify for the quarter-finals of the European competition.

In that stage, we will be visited by Bruges, who eliminated Zilina in Slovakian lands. The tie will be played on March 17 or 18 in Alcalá de Henares.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.