Braga reached the next stage of the UEFA Cup by winning Red Star 2-0. The goals were scored by the inevitable Roland Linz and also by Wender, who made a great performance. Braga are absolute fair winners and they truly deserved to go through the competition. They ended 2nd in the group behind Bayern, whilst Bolton were the 3rd placed. Red Star were playing without much ambition tonight and they weren't a huge obstacle to the Portuguese side, who, after drawing at this same stadium against Bayern, proved they have skills to dream on go further and further in the UEFA Cup.

In the end of the match, Chairman António Salvador expressed his disappointment because there were only 8000 supporters in the stadium to watch this decisive game. "I think that we should look at our rivals Guimarães. They have been recently promoted and just watch how many people they have in the stadium. With the conditions we have, if we had a better support from our fans, we would fight for the league title. I'm deeply thanked to the 8000 who were here tonight but I'm really disappointed with the other ones because this was a really decisive moment for the club, we are involved in top competitions and we don't have the support we deserve", said Salvador. Apart from that issue, Braga were absolutely dominant on this game and the early goal (11th minute) scored by Roland Linz on the far post (enjoying Wender's assist) was fundamental to give The Arsenalists some more tranquility. With Bayern beating Aris, the 1-0 was enough. However, Braga wanted to make it their own way and seeked the second goal, which only came on the 66th minute by Wender, following a good 1v1 situation. Wender was the MOM and it was no concidence coach Manuel Machado saved him for the next fixtures. He received a standing ovation and he's definitely increasing form.

We have to mention Roland Linz's goal form. He's been scoring on almost every game and turning into a fundamental player at this moment. He enjoyed João Tomás's injury very well and he shows his value with goals, which is the best possible way for a striker to prove something. As a whole, Braga were a very competent team and some players had to be highlighted. Anchor Roberto Brum was superb at tackling, running and passing in midfield, whilst João Pereira ran the right wing with danger and defensive security - the latter is improving a lot as a player. Vandinho is a midfielder with defensive nature but he's been playing recently as a more attacking one. He deals his business well around the opposite box and also helps Brum and Frechaut on the defensive tasks. Substitutes César Peixoto and Jaílson were also well in the game so everything seemed perfect for Manuel Machado's side. As for Red Star, the substitute midfielder Lucas, who is Portuguese, was one of the best and it was quite a surprise he began on the bench and had only entered to replace the injured Basta. Anyway, even if Red Star had some prestige to defend, they had no special ambition in the competition anymore and they were lacking on morale. Francklin Salas was probably the best on the visitors and even Koroman, who is usually one of the most dangerous players, didn't create any kind of panic on the Portuguese defence.

The Arsenalists are in a great form, both in Europe and Portugal. They have good players and the ammount of experience they gained in the recent years is making a very positive effect on them. As for Red Star, they collected 4 defeats in 4 games...