The first major European trophy of the season is up for grabs on Thursday night as Bayern Munich meet Sevilla for the UEFA Super Cup.
This trophy is traditionally contested between the winners of the Champions League and Europa League from the previous season.This year, the match will be played at the Puskás Aréna, in Budapest.
Team #SuperCup! 💪 #packmas pic.twitter.com/9QBiuVGCas— FC Bayern München (@FCBayern) September 23, 2020
Team #SuperCup! 💪 #packmas pic.twitter.com/9QBiuVGCas
Bayern Munich come into the game having started their domestic season with a tremendous 8-0 home victory against Schalke. The defending champions were the heavy favourites going into the match but no one expected them to score 8 goals without reply in the first game of the season.
Following on from their Champions League success last season, Bayern Munich have won each of their last 22 games in all competitions. You must go back to the 0-0 draw against RB Leipzig on the 9th of February to find the last time they failed to win a match. You must go back even further, to the 7th of December 2019, to find the last time they lost a competitive game of football.
There is no doubt Bayern Munich are currently the best club side in Europe and the last time they met Spanish opposition they scored 8 goals when defeating Barcelona 8-2 in the quarter-final of the Champions League.
Bayern Munich have been scoring goals for fun but they also know how to defend. The Germans have kept a clean sheet in each of their last 3 competitive games, including the Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain.
Sevilla have yet to begin their domestic campaign having played in European competition last season. They have played one friendly match which was against Levante and you must go back to the Europa League final to find the last competitive game they played. It was a memorable one for the club as they defeated Inter Milan 3-2 to win the Europa League for a record sixth time.
Sevilla performed superbly in the final stages of the Europa League last season. Not only did they beat Inter Milan in the final, they also defeated Roma, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Manchester United on their way to glory.
Much like the opposition, Sevilla have proven extremely difficult to beat and they come into this game defending a 22 match unbeaten run. You must go back to the 9th of February to find the last time Sevilla lost a competitive game. However, they do not have the same winning record as Bayern Munich.
Looking ahead to the team news and Bayern Munich will be without the injured trio of Kingsley Coman, Nianzou Kouassi and Robert Lewandowski, the latter of which will be a blow. There are also doubts over the fitness of David Alaba, Alphonso Davies, and Leon Goretzka.
Sevilla travel to Hungary without Pablo Pérez and Sébastien Corchia who are both injured. They are the only two absentees for the Spanish club.
Sevilla know what it takes to win in European competition but they come up against the best club in Europe right now. Even without the services of Robert Lewandowski, Bayern Munich have enough of an attacking threat to win this game by a two goal margin.