After a quiet opening ten minutes the game came to life with a goal from Juninho on his return to the Riverside.
Noel Whelan won the ball in the middle and played it wide to Geremi who crossed from the right. The ball seemed to allude the players at the near post and the 'Little Fella' stole in to punish the Spanish defence. Needless to say the ground errupted.
Less than 10 minutes later it was 2-0, a deflected throughball by Juninho fell kindly for Maccarone who calmly found the corner of the net from 18 yards.
It was 3-0 with only 27 minutes gone. A back heel from Maccarone put Boateng clear and he delicately chipped the ball over the advancing keeper.
Not to be outdone by his fellow home debutees Geremi made the most of a short Juninho free-kick but his fierce shot was blocked by the Alaves defence.
The Spanish side gave themselves a lifeline with a goal on the half hour. A poor clearance by Gianluca festa fell into the path of Martin Astudillo who buried his shot from the right corner of the six-yard box.
The second half could not live up to the excitement of the first half, a host of substitutions not helping the fluidity of the game. The biggest cheer of the half was saved for Juninho who left the field after 70 minutes.
Alaves made Boro play to the death as they pulled another goal back through Jordi Cruyff in the dying minutes.