At their previous meeting, at Minsk’s Dynamo Stadium, Barcelona defeated Belarus 0:5; this time, BATE performed far more impressively, deserving to score at least once. The Borisov players received a perfect chance in the 33rd minute, when Dutch legionary Mark van Bommel lost the ball to BATE’s Renan Bressan near the goal. The Brazilian had a tete-a-tete with Milan’s goalkeeper, Christian Abbiati, but failed to score. Sadly, the Italian players then sent the ball to the back of the Belarusian net almost immediately. After the goal, the Belarusians’ play went downhill fast, with our team failing to keep possession of the ball. They made repeated mistakes in their passes, resulting in most of the action taking place near our goal. BATE missed a second goal in the twentieth minute before the match ended. Kevin Prince Boateng’s kick, perfect in beauty and power, has reached the net from beyond the penalty area. The football club from Borisov has met the Italian club for the third time in its history, but Milan’s net was left out of reach once more.
“Today, we had a good chance of turning the game to our advantage,” noted BATE’s head coach, Victor Goncharenko, after the match. “However, we failed to use our opportunities. Milan’s level of play is so great that they can score even from beyond the penalty area.”
Goncharenko’s squad will have the chance to correct the situation in a return match in Minsk.
