The 2021/22 UEFA clubs’ competition season officially started with the UEFA Champions League qualification phase on June 22nd and the UEFA Europa League qualification phase on August 3rd.
However, the match to determine who gets the first piece of silverware for European clubs in the 2021/22 season, the UEFA Super Cup, is set to take centre stage at the Windsor Park in Belfast when the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League winners Chelsea takes on the 2020/21 UEFA Europa League winners Villarreal in a winner takes all match.
Chelsea’s revival following the mid-season appointment of German tactician Thomas Tuchel saw them end up as champions of Europe after a 1-0 victory over Manchester City in an all-English final in Porto.
Villarreal also dispatched an English side, Manchester United, on penalties in the final of the Europa League as Unai Emery led the club to its first-ever major trophy.
CHELSEA
Tuchel’s Chelsea performed beyond expectations last season as they picked up the Champions League trophy. The Blues have only recruited ex-Fulham goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli as the club’s third-choice goalkeeper.
He is joined by two of last season’s loanees Trevoh Chalobah and Ruben Loftus-Cheek as the only players who were not members of last season’s Champions League-winning squad to make the trip to Belfast for the Super Cup match.
Chelsea won the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup before it was rebranded to the UEFA Super Cup in 1998 after defeating Real Madrid.
The club also has the chance to win their 18th trophy in 18 years since Roman Abramovich bought the club in 2003, and also the chance to move closer to a clean sweep of trophies under the Russian oligarch.
The UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup are the only two trophies yet to be picked up by Chelsea since Abramovich took over, with Chelsea losing three times to Atletico Madrid in 2012/13, Bayern Munich in 2013/14 and Liverpool in 2019/20.
They can also become the first club in history to win the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Super Cup/ UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup twice.
VILLARREAL
For all of his success in the UEFA Europa League, Villarreal boss Unai Emery has never before lifted the UEFA Super Cup. The Spanish manager will lead out his Villarreal wards looking to inflict a defeat on Chelsea and put an end to his miserable run in the UEFA Super Cup.
Villarreal has added former Real Betis man Aissa Mandi and Stade de Reims striker Boulaye Dia to their squad during the summer of 2021.
Villarreal will miss the duo of Dani Parejo who picked up a calf injury in their preseason friendly against Levante, as well as tricky winger Samuel Chukwueze, who continues to recover from a hip injury he picked up in last season’s Europa League semifinal against Arsenal. Chukwueze also missed the final against Manchester United with the injury.
Villarreal won the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 2003 and 2004 before it was abolished in 2008, with the cup win serving as a way to qualify for the UEFA Cup directly.
The club secured its first major trophy by winning the Europa League, and also a place in the UEFA Champions League for the first time since the 2008/09 season.
KEY MEN
Two players that would be key for Chelsea in the game are Kai Havertz and Hakim Ziyech. Club-record signing Havertz endured a disappointing start to his Chelsea career, but the appointment of Tuchel seemed to give him a new lease of life.
He scored the winner in the Champions League final and matched it with another well-taken goal in his first preseason match. Ziyech, like Havertz, endured a below-par debut campaign with Chelsea.
The Moroccan attacker has hit the ground running with 5 goals scored in four preseason matches. He is expected to have a huge impact on the game against Villarreal.
Villarreal would be without two key players in Parejo and Chukwueze, but they can turn to regular goalscorers Gerard Moreno and Paco Alcacer to help them bang in the goals against a Chelsea defence that lacked the solidity it showed under Tuchel last season in their preseason matches.
Moreno led the scoring for his side with 30 goals in 46 appearances last season.
HEAD TO HEAD
Both sides have never faced each other, but Tuchel’s Chelsea faced no problems in dispatching their fellow La Liga sides Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid en route to winning the UEFA Champions League last season. Chelsea is a clear favourite for the win.
PUNTERS CORNER
Chelsea is clearly favoured to pick up the win in the match and has been given 1.71 odds of winning the game, while Villarreal comes in on the underdog card with 5.25 odds of winning the match. A draw between the sides has been pegged at 3.50 odds on NetBet.
