On Sunday afternoon, Melbourne Victory and bitter rivals Sydney FC will do battle in what is the biggest of Big Blues since their epic 2010 Grand Final showdown.
In a match of this magnitude, the importance of winning individual battles on the night has never been greater. It may prove the difference between winning and losing, between champion and runner-up, between hero and villain.
Throughout the week, Outside90 will be bringing you an in-depth preview of the five biggest match-ups to look forward to as the 2015 A-League Finals series draws to a close.
Key match-up five: Bernie Ibini vs Daniel Georgievski
When Bernie Ibini followed coach Graham Arnold down the M1 to link up with the Sky Blues, the anticipation over one of Australian football’s brightest young talents was justifiably high. But a slow start for Ibini saw him fail to score in his opening five starts. Fast-forward seven months and the former Mariner has now scored a goal in each of his last five appearances, taking his tally for the season to seven and signalling a return to form at exactly the right time of the season.
Usually playing off the right-hand side, although able to interchange with fellow winger Chris Naumoff, means that the man tasked with the challenge of thwarting the Socceroo is Australian-born, Macedonian international Daniel Georgievski. Also a new addition to the Victory, the pacy full-back has filled the void left by the now-FC Basel player Adama Traore with aplomb this season.
A battle between two of the speedsters of the competition, Ibini will not be able to rely on sheer acceleration to get the better of his man this time around. Instead, he may be able to test Georgievski’s tactical awareness. A trait of Sydney FC and by extension, Bernie Ibini’s play is the inverted movements of Sydney’s wide players to allow room for the overlapping runs of Sebastian Ryall, Nikola Petkovic and at times, Alex Gersbach.
It is a tactic that will no doubt be employed against the Victory on Sunday and will force Georgievski into multiple decisions on whether to track Sydney’s fleet-footed winger in-field or stay in a wider areas to nullify the cross. It was a problem that even seasoned professional, Tarek Elrich struggled to deal with during the semi-final – Georgievski must be bold and aggressive in his decision-making if he is to truly annul Ibini’s ample threat.
By the same token, Ibini has a job to do on Georgievski if his side is to gain the upper-hand in the contest. The Blacktown-born full-back loves to join in the attack and Ibini will have to be weary against his frenetic forward movement, especially considering the Victory’s dangerous counter-attacking threat.
Overloading the attack with full-backs has been a trademark of Kevin Muscat’s side this season. For all his attacking brilliance last week, Frenchman Harry Novillo was caught out upfield as his opposing full-back Leigh Broxham strolled into the box to pick out Besart Berisha with an inch-perfect cross for his side’s first of the evening. Georgievski’s forward forays where plain for all to see later in the half. Chiming into the attack with and underlapping run inside of Ben Khalfallah drew defenders away from the Tunisian, who had time to measure his cross and find Kosta Barbarouses to make it 2-0.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9AsDO2HSNI
So while Georgievski has a task on his hands to neutralise the opposition’s most in-form attacking threat, Ibini must also be defensively aware and tactically astute on the night in what may turn out to be a pivotal micro-contest.
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