Bayern Munich and Sevilla will lock horns in what promises to be a tasty Super Cup affair in Budapest, but both teams will be without key midfielders who were integral to their respective sides’ European success in 2019/20. Spanish star Thiago Alcantara, a vital cog in coach Hansi Flick’s 4-2-3-1 formation, has swapped Bayern’s Allianz Arena for Anfield while Sevilla will have to do without the services of classy Argentine medio Ever Banega, who has now chosen to continue his career in Saudi Arabia after helping them lift the Europa League last month.
The game will be held in Budapest’s Puskas Arena and will have spectators, unlike the knockout stage games last month that were played behind closed doors in Germany and Portugal. It was originally supposed to be hosted by Porto’s Dragao stadium, but was moved to the Hungarian capital later by the powers that be.
The fixture has been dominated by the Champions League winners in recent times- the only Europa League SC winner in the last decade has been Atletico Madrid. Every other Super Cup in the past ten years has gone the way of the CL champions, and Bayern themselves won this trophy in 2013 as UCL winners, beating Chelsea on penalties in Prague.
Sevilla won their first Super Cup back in 2006, when the Europa League was still the UEFA Cup, but have lost their last four Super Cups in succession. Milan beat them in 2007 and Real Madrid got the better of them in 2014 and 2016, with Barca also edging them in a nine goal thriller in 2016.
Bayern demolished Schalke 8-0 in their last outing, with Leroy Sane shining on debut with a goal and two assists to his name against his former club. It was a sign to the rest of the world that the Bavarian giants aren’t prepared to rest on their laurels and took their unbeaten run to 31 games this year. They are currently on a 22 match winning streak across all competitions.
It perhaps therefore comes as no surprise that Bayern are favourites to lift the crown in the latest football betting from 888Sport. Hansi Flick’s men also have the advantage of having played a competitive league game coming into this clash (v Schalke in the Bundesliga), while Sevilla’s last outing was a friendly against Levante, a fixture the Andalusians edged 3-2, and they’re yet to play competitively since winning the Europa League final against Inter.
Against the Royal Blues, Bayern moved Joshua Kimmich from right back into midfield to fill the gap left by Thiago’s departure to Liverpool. Benjamin Pavard took Kimmich’s place in defence. Corentin Tolisso is also seen as a back up option in midfield, with Flick also having the option to groom young Mickael Cuisance as well. Leon Goretzka was replaced early in the second half against S04 by Tolisso as a precautionary measure, but the former is expected to be fit for Thursday.
Kingsley Coman didn’t feature against Schalke because he was in quarantine, and will miss this clash as well. With Ivan Perisic and Philippe Coutinho having both returned to their parent clubs after the end of their loan spells, Bayern are a little thin on the left wing. Alphonso Davies was benched against Schalke and Lucas Hernandez was given a rare start at left back, with the Canadian also being viewed as a potential backup option for new star signing Sane on the left flank. David Alaba, whose contract extension at Bayern has run into a bit of a hurdle, missed the S04 game through a thigh injury.
Bayern were also in absolute command throughout the Champions League knockout stages, with the 8-2 demolition of Barcelona being a highlight of their campaign. Both Lyon and PSG, the former in particular, had chances to exploit Bayern’s high line, but failed to take advantage, and once the Bavarians went ahead, they simply refused to relinquish their lead. The final was a gritty affair, with Bayern winning by a solitary goal from surprise starter Coman, and was an impressive achievement for a defence that had lost key centre-back Jerome Boateng to injury early in the game. They also achieved the rare feat of winning all games en route to the title.
Sevilla have often struggled in the Champions League but seem to have the ability to raise their game in the Europa League, and beat both Manchester United and Inter Milan en route to the title. United in particular dominated their semi-final, but Sevilla showed resilience to come up trumps against the Red Devils. Los Rojiblancos also have a canny manager in Julen Lopetegui, who is slowly rebuilding his reputation following his poor managerial stint with Real Madrid. He sprung a surprise by starting Luuk de Jong in the final (none of the papers expected it), and the Dutch forward repaid his manager’s faith with a pair of absolute quality headers against Antonio Conte’s Inter.
The two teams’ only previous meeting in Europe was at the quarterfinal stage of the 2017/18 season. Bayern won 2-1 away in the first leg and then followed it up with a 0-0 draw at home to progress to the semis at the expense of Los Rojiblancos.
Bayern-Sevilla (24 September, 2020- Referee Anthony Taylor)