2020 UEFA SUPERCUP FINAL
FC BAYERN MÜNCHEN vs. SEVILLA FC
Sevilla’s first competitive match of the 2020/21 campaign takes place at the Puskás Aréna in Budapest, Hungary, against German champions Bayern Munich.
The mighty Bayern Munich has returned to the pinnacle of European football, coming off a treble-winning season, and looking to stay at the top. Their onslaught on last season’s Champions League grabbed the attention of the football world. A large part of their success can be attributed to the appointment of Hans-Dieter Flick last November, who has brought out the best of the Bavarians, especially Thomas Müller. He has proved again to be an indispensable player of many hats, who fills every gap in attack, and ultimately embodies the spirit of this team. Their recent 8-0 demolishing of Schalke makes last season look like a pre-cursor to something greater. The days of Ribéry & Robben are now gone, but the dawn of Gnabry & Sané has emerged.
Our next challenge is upon us, and you are only granted these types of matches after achieving exploits of your own. Lopetegui’s 1st season as Sevilla manager was successful, but there is still room to grow. How he will manage this next test against the “best team in the world” will tell us more about his coaching pedigree. We have been a difficult team to beat through most of last season. Will that resoluteness once again be a precedent for the campaign to come?
Lopetegui: "A team like this has not appeared in Europe for many years.”
If there is a way to beat Bayern, we can look at the matches against both Lyon & PSG from the Champions League. FCB gave away many chances in the early stages of both matches, and were susceptible to many counter attacks due to their relentless high press. This may force Lopetegui to start our rapid striker En-Nesyri to be the first line of defence and to exploit the space left behind the Bayern defenders.
Many will agree that Éver Banega was instrumental in what was achieved last season. With the return of Ivan Rakitić, we will see the contrast of styles between the two players, but also a similar leadership role on the pitch. He has come back to Sevilla as a better, and more experienced player.
Further back, our star defensive pairing of Kounde & Diego Carlos will seek out their new challenge of containing Robert Lewandowski. After coping through many potent attacks during that Europa League run, shutting down the Polish striker would be quite the feat.
”Mentally, there are few teams that are better than us.” - Joan Jordán
Both clubs have struggled to lift the Supercup, as they both coincidentally have only 1 victory out of 5. Anything can happen in a final. The odds are heavily stacked against Sevilla, but history shows that is never enough to stop us.
#VamosMiSevilla
#NuncaSeRinde