The Big Match: Reds and Roar set for thriller

Finals football was set to be a spectator sport for Brisbane Roar until Perth Glory was penalised out of the finals for an extreme case of creative accounting and seventh-placed Roar became the A-League's "lucky losers". Will Roar make it through to week two of the finals by beating Adelaide United at Adelaide Oval on Friday night, or is its luck about to run out? We tell you all you need to know going into the game.

Isaias Sanchez Luke Brattan

Adelaide's Isaias Sanchez (R) protects the ball from Roar's Luke Brattan earlier in the season. (AAP) Source: AAP

The big guns - Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC - sit out the first week of the finals, waiting to see who they'll play next weekend. The winner of Adelaide-Brisbane is going to have to show something special to suggest it could get past either Victory or Sydney on the road.



Why you should watch it

Because it's sink or swim time. The winner gets to live on for at least another week and the loser can start thinking about next season.

Plus, it's a rare visit to Adelaide Oval, a venue the Adelaide people love and which should be packed for this game, creating a marvellous atmosphere.

The Adelaide Oval surface was too slick for the clash between Adelaide and Melbourne Victory early in the season, when it had been prepared for cricket. It should be a bit slower at this time of the year and more conducive to good football.

What happened last time they played

Brisbane went to Adelaide and won, 3-2, in round 25. It wasn't as close as the score suggested. Brisbane led 2-0 at halftime and increased that advantage to three goals before Adelaide came up with a goal midway through the second half and finally an added-time penalty.

The clash was marked by an absolute howler from Adelaide goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic, who rushed outside the penalty area to get to a ball but misjudged the bounce. During the frenzied battle for the ball that followed, Galekovic ended up punching it into his own net to make it 2-0 to Roar.

Brisbane's win came the day after FFA announced Perth Glory would be barred from playing in the finals series because it had cheated the salary cap, opening up a spot for the seventh-placed defending champion Roar.
Key battles

Even without the injured Bruce Djite, Adelaide will have a wave of attackers coming at Brisbane from all angles. The challenge increases for Brisbane with several defenders out, including very experienced central defender Jade North, who has had an appendix operation.

Marcelo Carrusca is finally back from injury for Adelaide, meaning two of the A-League's finest playmakers will be seen on opposite sides in this match. Of course, I'm talking about Thomas Broich for Brisbane.

These two players won't be going head-to-head, as such, but they are each capable of having an enormous influence on their team's fortunes. It's going to be up to the opposition to shut them down and the more effective job done there could also be a match-winning job.

Why Adelaide will win

This has got to be the club's time to show the revolution in approach it has undergone since Josep Gombau became coach can bear fruit in terms of finals results.

Last season, Adelaide went out of the finals in its first game. If it happens again, you've got to wonder whether that is as good as it gets for the club, in its current shape and form.

The players will surely be more determined than ever to prove Adelaide is the real deal.

Why Roar will win

It keeps winning in Adelaide, for a start. Some people love statistics, others dismiss them. My view is that when the same thing keeps happening, even when it seems so strange that it does and you think it has to stop soon, you can't simply write it off as a coincidence.

Apart from that, Roar has got nothing to lose. It is only in the finals because Perth Glory got kicked out for cheating the salary cap. The pressure on Brisbane - winner of three of the past four A-League championships - is not as great as it is on Adelaide.
What the players are saying

Brisbane's Thomas Broich says Adelaide's Marcelo Carrusca can make things happen, but that he won't be the only player out there who can do that.

"He’s a great player," Broich said. "Sometimes all he needs is just one moment for him to change a game. Obviously he possesses a big threat with his balls in behind, but at the same time we have similar players in our squad who can do the same.

"It comes down to that. Is he going to have a great game or are our guys going to have a great game?"

Carrusca knows a great player when he sees one, as well.

"Brisbane are a very good team and have very good players," he said. "The best player in the league, for me, is [Thomas] Broich. We have to do well, keep more of the ball than them and try to score. This is most important."

What the coaches are saying

No matter how you might have made the finals, if you're there, you're there - and you might stay a while. That's how Brisbane coach Frans Thijssen is thinking.

"I still believe that we can go all the way," he said. "It's only a couple of games and you're there."

And Adelaide coach Josep Gombau is not going to help Brisbane fire up by rubbishing it. That would be stupid.

"They have players that they are missing, but in the end the players who come in will have a good feeling to play a final," Gombau said of Roar. "When you are inside a team like Brisbane, the last champions, for sure you are a good player."

The villain

Roar captain Matt McKay is a fierce competitor and an angry man. If he senses his team is getting a raw deal from the referee, he will be straight in there to make a point of it - yapping away and waving his arms about. The Adelaide crowd would enjoy giving him a bit back on their team's behalf.

The hero

Awer Mabil is still young and, so, has a lot to learn, but he does everything at 100 miles an hour and when things go right and he peels off a great goal it is so exciting. If he can come up with a killer goal on a night like this, Adelaide Oval will go off.

The match in numbers

Results in games between these two teams have been extraordinary because the vast majority of games have been won by the away team.

They have clashed 15 times in Brisbane for seven Adelaide wins, three to Roar and five draws. In Adelaide, it's 10 wins to Brisbane, four to Adelaide and three draws.

Will that run of results continue here? Those players in the Brisbane team who have experienced recent success in Adelaide will respect the opposition, but they won't be going in with any fear.

The last 10 clashes overall have seen seven Brisbane wins and three to Adelaide.

The last five in Adelaide have all been won by Brisbane. In fact, Roar is unbeaten in the last eight games in Adelaide, with seven wins and a draw.

It has been over five years since Adelaide beat Brisbane in Adelaide. That was a 2-0 result on 6 February 2010.

The away team has won all three clashes this season - Adelaide 2-1, Brisbane 1-0 and Brisbane 3-2.

The verdict

The fact it has been well documented Brisbane has a great record in Adelaide must surely mean there is no chance of the home side underestimating the visitor. That is a good start for Adelaide.

Brisbane has more players out than Adelaide as well and the unavailability, in particular, of Jade North at the back and Henrique in attack is potentially very damaging in a knockout game.

Finally, the return of Marcelo Carrusca for Adelaide is a huge factor. He will lack a bit of match conditioning, but he won't have slowed down between the ears and that is where it counts with a player like him.

Adelaide to win in normal time.


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8 min read
Published 1 May 2015 11:48am
By Greg Prichard
Source: SBS

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