European football is ready to finally roll out the red carpet for its heavyweights as its most highly anticipated and widely watched international tournament gets ready to kick off once again. The draw for the UEFA Champions League depicted new beginnings as Manchester City did not end up in the group of death this time around, but Arsenal sort of did. And as with every year, UEFA organises a curtain raiser to mark the beginning of another exciting season of international football; the UEFA Super Cup. The match is played between the winners of the previous year’s Champions League and Europa League winners.
This year’s Super Cup match will be between Bayern Munich and Chelsea. The German giants will be coming into the match looking to avenge their heartbreaking loss to the Blues in the Champions League Final two years back. Chelsea can not look a more different side than they were in 2012. Gone are the days of packing the defence and relying completely on counter attack to beat big oppositions. Chelsea now boast a whole host of creative players who can challenge and outfox any outfit in the world. Their attacking midfielders are extremely talented, in abundance and full of goals. Add to that the new signing of Samuel Eto’o, gives the Blues quite a wholesome look. They also welcomed back (with oozing love) their beloved coach Jose Mourinho, who has returned to the club after 6 years.
Bayern also have a new look about them, but the crux of the team that lost in the Allianz Arena on that fateful day in May remains. Bastian Schweinsteiger, Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery, Philipp Lahm, Manuel Neuer and Thomas Muller will be eyeing for vengeance in Prague. They have bolstered their squad with the addition of Mario Gotze from Borussia Dortmund who will prove to be a mighty threat. Sadly, their other big addition - Thiago Alcantara from Barcelona - tore his ligament and is set for an extended spell on the sidelines.
Bayern, too boast a new coach in Pep Guardiola, who is looking to shed the tag of the ‘tiki-taka coach’ as he starts to work with a completely different team with completely different tactics from the ones he had deployed at Barcelona
The match is also being anticipated as the clash of, arguably, the best managers in the world currently, as Mourinho and Guardiola look to revisit their El Clasico rivalry once again. It remains to be seen how ‘The Special One’ approaches this match, whether he will tell his players to lock down tight and play on the counter attack like they did against Manchester United last week, or whether he will tell them to play openly and freely and attempt to rattle the European Champions. Whatever happens, the match proves to become a lively one, with Bayern going in as the slender favourites.
Player to Watch: Franck Ribery
Predicted Scoreline: Bayern Munich 2-1 Chelsea
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