Who has the best odds to compete for the UEFA Super Cup?
The upcoming 2020 UEFA Super Cup match is the 45th edition of the match. It was a bit tough & go to see if the UEFA Super Cup would even be held due to the world’s present circumstances but it was announced on August 25 that the show – or rather the game – would go on.
The UEFA Super Cup is the start of the UEFA club competition season and a one-off fixture between the winners of the UEFA Champions League & the UEFA Europa League; the winners of the two leagues for the 2019 to 2020 season are Bayern Munich & Sevilla, respectively. The two teams are set to compete on September 24 for the Super Cup title so let’s take a look at who has the best odds at winning.
Playing favorites
The current holders of the UEFA Super Cup are Liverpool who won the match in 2019 five to four after penalties against Chelsea. The teams who have proven to be the most successful in previous matches are Milan & Barcelona who have won the trophy five times before.
It’s speculated that European champions are typically the winners in this particular tournament and last year Liverpool added to that example. However, it isn’t always the case and the European Cup & UEFA Champions League holders have won twenty-four out of the forty-four editions of the match.
On Sunday, August 23, Bayern Munich snagged the Champion League win over Paris Saint-Germain, one to zero, leading them to their first Super Cup match since 2013. Sevilla meanwhile, took the Europa League trophy for the sixth time after they beat Inter Milan three to two. The favorite of the two teams might be Sevilla as they already dominated Inter Milan, the favorites to win the Europa League.
Spectators in the seats
The prospects for holding the UEFA Super Cup in the first place were not the best since the pandemic has caused some major upsets in professional sports, particularly when it comes to the safety of spectators. After discussions with fifty-five members associations, on August 19, the UEFA Executive Committee divided to use the Super Cup as a pilot match to include spectators.
The idea behind using the Super Cup as a pilot match will see 30% of the 67, 215 stadium capacity be allowed in, making it the first UEFA match to have spectators since the League competitions resumed in August.
A UEFA statement read: “The UEFA Administration will keep monitoring the situation and advise the UEFA Executive Committee if any change is required or recommended in respect of either the 2020 UEFA Super Cup and/or the decision that UEFA matches shall be played behind closed doors until further notice”
Location, location, location
The match was originally set to take place in the Estádio do Dragão in Porto, Portugal but was relocated on June 17 after the UEFA Executive Committee decided to relocate to Budapest due to COVID-19 restrictions. The UEFA Super Cup match is scheduled in Puskás Aréna in Budapest on September 24.
Subsequent editions of Super Cup matches are set to go on as originally scheduled with the 2021 match to be played in Belfast, the 2022 match to be played in Helsinki, and the 2023 match to be played in Kazan.
