“The Prologue of European Club Football Is Upon Us” In Literature, prologue is define as an opening to a story that establishes the setting and gives background details, often some earlier stories that tie into the main one, and other miscellaneous information. Similarly, the UEFA Super Cup match gives background details about European Club Football, in that it pits together the winners of the two main European club competitions, the Champions League and the Europa League. On top of this, it also gives hint about the level of entertainment and excitement Europe most elite club competition provides. With that being said, this evening at about 7:45 PM, Cardiff City Stadium will play host to the winners of Europe two main competitions Real Madrid and Sevilla in a 90 minutes epic showdown. The match promises to be a heart-stopping and mouth-watering encounter, in that both teams come into the match with the expectation of clinching the ultimate 3 million worth prize. That said, tonight encounter between Real Madrid and Sevilla is the 39th Edition of the UEFA Super Cup. Three months after winning the all-Spanish Champions League final against Atletico Madrid in Lisbon, Real and Europa League winners Sevilla meet in an all-Spanish Super Cup match with the home fans delighted to be able to watch Bale in his home city. Team News: Real Madrid, reigning European Champions is expected to field the worlds most expensive strikeforce valued at around €300 Million, including local Welsh hero Gareth Bale at the very beginning of the match. If the BBC trio was thought to be lethal last season, when you add the signing of Rodriguez to the threesome made up by CR7, Gareth Bale and Benzema, it can only have goals written all over it. Expensive yes, but also absolutely lethal and the expectation has been raised to enormous levels for Madrid fans ahead of the Sevilla game. For Sevilla, Unai Emery is expected to start with Barcelona loanee Denis Suarez, who was part of the deal which saw skipper Ivan Rakitic sold to the Catalan club for €20m this summer, Iago Aspas and Grzegorz Krychowiak who joined his ranks this summer from Liverpool and Reims respectively. Match Facts: • The winner of the last 11 European Super Cups has alternated between the reigning Champions League winners and the reigning UEFA Cup/Europa League winners. With Bayern Munich winning last season, Sevilla must win the 2014 edition for this trend to continue. • Real Madrid is the only team to lose a European Super Cup to a golden goal; they were beaten 2-1 by Galatasaray in 2000. • The last UEFA Super Cup to feature two teams from the same country also featured Sevilla; they beat Barcelona 3-0 in the 2006 edition. • Sevilla were also the last Spanish side to lose this game; they were beaten 3-1 by Milan in 2007. The last four Spanish sides to qualify for this competition have won. • Real Madrid has won only one of their three previous European Super Cups. They were beaten in 1998 and 2000 before beating Feyenoord 3-1 in 2002. Iker Casillas started the 2000 and 2002 games. • The last 13 La Liga meetings between Real Madrid and Sevilla have seen 64 goals scored; an average of just under five per game. • The Whites have won nine of their last 11 meetings with the Andalusian side in all competitions, but have lost the last two away from the Bernabeu (both away league games). • The one previous clash in a major European competition came in the 1958 European Cup quarter-final. Los Merengues won 8-0 at home before drawing 2-2 away to progress. • Welshman Gareth Bale scored two goals and assisted two more in two league appearances against Sevilla last season. • Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 16 goals in nine La Liga games against Sevilla; he has scored more goals against them than any other side in the competition. • James Rodriguez could make his first competitive appearance for Real Madrid in this game. He scored six goals in five World Cup 2014 appearances, collecting the Golden Boot in the process. • Keylor Navas made more saves than any other La Liga goalkeeper last season (160) and also had the best save percentage of any regular keeper (80.1%). (Opta Stats) Manager Quotes: Carlo Ancelotti: They had a good season. They won the Europa League with a group of players who worked well as a team and they deserved to win the title. Sevilla has changed a bit this year. In some ways theyre an unknown side at the moment because they have lost some important players, and others have arrived. Well see what happens. Unai Emery: How can we possibly be favorites against Real Madrid? They haven’t had much time to train and wont be at their best, but that doesnt mean theyre not favorites. Clearly, though, we have the ability to enjoy a great final, and win. Match Prediction: On paper, Real Madrid is expected to camp Sevilla throughout the ninety minutes of play due to the team enviable roster. Conversely to this statement, Sevilla has always been a bogey fixture for Real Madrid, so to predict that Real Madrid will emerge victorious from this tie will be unfortunate. On top of this, considering the fact that most of Real Madrid squad members just returned from summer holiday, their fitness level makes it risky to throw your money behind them. On the other hand, Sevilla lack of star studded players in their ranks also makes it difficult to call. With that said, from a personal viewpoint the match will be closely contested, but Real Madrid will eventually claim the 3 million worth prize upon the final whistle. Probable lineup: Real Madrid: Iker Casillas; Daniel Carvajal, Pepe, Sergio Ramos, Coentroa, Luka Modric, Toni Kross, James Rodriguez, Bale, Ronaldo and Benzema Sevilla: Beto; Coke, Fazio, Pareja, Alberto Moreno; Carriço, Krychowiak; Reyes, Denis Suárez, Vitolo; Bacca. Match Referee: Mark Clattenburg (England) Thanks for reading: Titus K. Tikwa Jr.
Posted on: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 13:09:44 +0000
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