This game ended on a 1-1 draw and none of the teams have sealed the qualifying yet. Everything will be decided on the final matchday, played on the 19th December: Braga will host the already eliminated Red Star, whilst Aris will have a more difficult game, at Bayern. Roland Linz signed the opening goal at the 6th minute but Aris, supported by their fiery crowd, equalised a few minutes later by Ronaldo Guiaro, a centre-back who already played at Portugal, wearing the Benfica jersey. The result was fair enough and although Braga must win the next matchday to reach the next stage, we can't say this was a bad result, at all.

Braga coach Manuel Machado was satisfied by the way his team performed. "We lost our lines' balance after Aris's goal. We started well each of the halves but we suffered a bit after Ronaldo scored us the equaliser", said the visiting coach. Centre-back and captain was surprisingly left out off the eleven because he felt some pains and didn't have conditions to play. This way, Anilton Júnior partnered Alberto Rodríguez in the centre-back and that was one of the reasons for Braga having felt so many troubles and nerves on that area. With Paulo Jorge around they usually get more comfortable and secure. He would be especially useful here as the stadium atmosphere was intense. Anyway, that was not the single change on Machado's expected eleven, as also Carlos Fernandes moved to the left-back and César Peixoto played as left-midfielder, making Jorginho to play in the centre, behind striker Roland Linz. This way, the usual left-winger and left-footed Wender was moved to the right side, whilst Frechaut, who has been playing lately as makeshift left-back, played as second defensive midfielder, next to Roberto Brum.

Brum was one of the best Braga players on the pitch and his influence on the midfield was decisive to hold a good result. Apart from defender Anilton Júnior, who was quite disastrous tonight, every players did a fine job, although we still have to mention a few more good performances besides Roberto Brum. First, goalkeeper Paulo Santos made some important saves and proved why he's one of the best goalkeepers in Portugal, second, right-back João Pereira was brilliant on the overlapping and defending again, just like he did against Bayern, and third, Roland Linz. The Austrian striker has been collecting important goals lately and he's currently on a very good form.

Roland Linz's goal followed a big mistake by goalkeeper Chalkias, who should have done a lot better on that play. Ronald García didn't play that much and the best on the centre midfield was probably Nabegleras, either on defending and attacking. The pace of Javito and the two fullbacks Aurélio and Neto were other good performances on the home side, who saw the ex-Sporting striker Koke having a terrible game. He was completely easy to mark and didn't create any kind of danger to the Braga defenders.

Recent news say that Braga's midfielder Vandinho could be under a disciplinary procedure because of his statements saying coach Manuel Machado doesn't like him.

Well, as we said above, both teams have chances of reaching the next UEFA Cup stage. Bolton are 1st in the group with 6 points but they won't play anymore. Aris and Bayern have 5 points and Braga are next with 3 points, consequence of three 1-1 draws in the three games they played in the group. One thing is sure, if Braga want to reach the next stage of the competition, they are forced to beat Red Star as the draw is not enough.