Although the Spanish clubs seem to like the Supercup – 15 of the previous 46 Supercups went to a Spanish club – Chelsea are the favorites with the German coach Thomas Tuchel. The fact that Villarreal copes well with an outsider role was shown in the Europa League final of the previous season, when the “Submarino Amarillo” (English: “Yellow Submarine”) sank the English record champions Manchester United.
To repeat that is the plan of coach Unai Emery, who has already won the Europa League title four times as a coach – more often than anyone else. However, the UEFA Supercup is still missing from his collection. “I now want to win the Supercup too, because I haven’t been able to do that so far,” said 49-year-old Emery and then scattered opponents Chelsea Rosen. That is the “best team in the world”.
Chelsea have “huge respect” for Villarreal
Tuchel returned the praise immediately. “I have a lot of respect for Villarreal and trainer Unai Emery. I think they should name the Europa League trophy ‘Unai Emery Trophy’ and soon! This guy is amazing, ”said Tuchel. For both teams it is the first compulsory game of the season. The championships in Spain and England don’t start until the weekend.
UEFA Supercup in Belfast (NIR)
Wednesday, 9 p.m.
Chelsea – Villarreal
Chelsea: Mendy – Zouma, Chalobah, Rüdiger – Hudson-Odoi, Kante, Kovacic, Alonso – Ziyech, Werner, Havertz
Villarreal: Asenjo – Foyth, Albiol, Pau, Pedraza – Trigueros, Capoue, Moreno – Pino, Gerard, Dia
For Chelsea and Tuchel it is a good two months after the triumph in the premier class to reaffirm their status as the best club team in Europe. “Is there a better start to the season than with a European final?” Asked Tuchel before the duel. The 47-year-old appealed to his team to be greedy for new success and “not to drop one percent of determination and hunger”.
Tuchel, who wants to sign the Belgian star striker Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan, relies primarily on Frenchman N’Golo Kante against Villarreal, who had already triumphed in the Champions League: “I fought for years to get him on my team and now we’ve done it the other way around – I’ve joined his team. It is every coach’s dream to have N’Golo by his side, ”said Tuchel.
