Aberdeen overcame a dreadful start to contain Atletico for much of this encounter, but in the end even a second string Atletico side had too much quality. Even during spells of possession, the Dons were unable to break down the hosts on too many occasions, while Atletico's trademark fast attacking won the day for them.

They did defend a bit more than normal, perhaps mindful of the number of 4-3 wins and such that they've had of late. Perea and Seitardis were both out, while Ze Castro was rotated from the side in a straight back four; moreover, they were protected by Thiago Motta, the debutant ex-Barcelona man. He was more apt to hang back than the likes of Maniche would be, and it's clear that this helped a bit, even though Aberdeen's best moves often came centrally as well. As usual the hosts' attacks came down the wings, Luis Garcia being eager to impress, but the two strikers were lacking in the finish. Aberdeen, initial nerves aside, did not want for fighting spirit, and they in fact showed good midfield shape for the bulk of the match. Touzani was their most inventive player, but even he often found his hand forced.

The early stages, though, were 100% Atleti. Only five minutes were on the clock when Luis Garcia was put clean through only to miscue his shot with the goal at his mercy, and then not long after, an unmarked Pernia hit the post with a 20 yard drive. Aberdeen were having to defend deeply now, but gradually they established a foothold, Zander Diamond marshalling the defence well, and they controlled midfield possession. However, they found themselves unable to spray the ball out wide or play that killer through ball, so chances were very much hard to come by heading in to the interval. Luis Garcia, instead, was able to take the game by the scruff of the neck on the wings, and he almost scored five minutes before the interval; when the goal did come, it was from the spot as Forlan scored following Hart's foul on Aguero.

Just after the interval, Atletico brought on Simao in an attempt to win the midfield battle with flair; it paid off eventually. After a fine start to the half, he doubled the lead 61 minutes in with a deflected, yet well-struck free kick. That signalled job done for Atletico, who opted to sit back and soak up pressure. Lee Miller had a great chance after some great work from Touzani - the only real inventive force for the visitors - but other than that Abbiati had little to do.

Other than a spell midway through the first half and again after it was 2-0, Aberdeen did not really offer enough to be serious contenders here. Nonetheless, had it been 0-0 at half time, it may have been a different story; in that sense, Atletico need to learn to balance their gung ho attacking with midfield presence, because it took them a while to find it here.