Chelsea vs Bayern Munich, Round 2.
“It’s just the Super Cup – It’s just a curtain raiser for European football – It’s just another way for UEFA to make more money.”
Or is it a chance for Bayern to gain revenge on Chelsea? Or maybe another chance for Pep Guardiola to lock horns with Mourinho, and engage in a fierce battle?
Or maybe both teams want to showcase their talent to the big boys of Europe, and give them a taster of what’s to come in this year’s European and Domestic competitions.
One thing’s certain, this will be no walk in the park for either team.
With key players set to return to the Chelsea XI, here’s what fans think should be our starting XI tonight:

Petr Cech

An obvious choice, as he’s been for a decade, Petr Cech, one of Chelsea’s heroes in our 2011/12 triumph, is an automatic starter for this game.

He’s fit and raring to go, and his experience will count for a lot when dealing with dangerous situations such as set pieces. His distribution will have to be perfect as ever, allowing our attack to create something against a very solid Bayern defence. He’s only conceded one goal in 3 games so far, and he’ll be aiming to keep another clean sheet.

Cesar Azpilicueta (@shadichams)

Well in my opinion it should be Azpi because he is more nimble and agile, could help with dealing against the pace of Gotze/Shaqiri. He should be allowed to but Mourinho will prioritise defence in this game, so I don’t expect him to bomb on forward.

Gary Cahill (@chelseano161997)

Has looked extremely solid alongside John Terry. The duo have always seemed to have a good understanding between them, and Monday night proved that Cahill is still more than comfortable playing big games, as he has done in the past. He will have quite a lot on his plate, having to deal with the Ribery and Gotze threat coming in from the left side.

John Terry (@JoeeLloyd)

Got to be JT. Very obvious pick. Has been solid since the start of the season and won’t be involved in upcoming internationals. I think it’d be sensible to choose the starting XI around the internationals due to fitness of some players. He’s José’s mouthpiece on the pitch and probably still one of the first names to go down on the team sheet. JT is still showing why he’s one of the best.

Ashley Cole (@V_iator)

Cole for me without a doubt, showed how good he still is with a string of backtracks and important blocks in the game against United. He’s better than Bertrand even when attacking. Plays on the wings with Hazard, who seems fluid when Cole plays! Robben always looks forward to the defender making a challenge and failing at it. Generally goes past, cuts in and scores that left footer, however Cole is excellent when 1 on 1.

David Luiz (Cheated a bit! @SahilSW6)

Mourinho’s confirmed that he’s trained and marked fit for the game. In my opinion, he could be Chelsea’s most vital player on the pitch tonight, if selected. I personally don’t see Bayern letting us go through them and giving us much of a chance to attack, which is why David Luiz’s quick passing and switching of play will come in handy when we’re on the break. Defensively, we know how good he is when he sits back in midfield. With Ramires alongside him, they can share the defensive work, but if fully fit, Luiz would prove to be the difference against a team that are known for breaking down midfields and defences with supreme passing, and instead counter this by having Luiz cover our back 4 making interceptions and diffusing dangerous situations.

Ramires (@FrederickCFC)

My pick for the midfield pivot: Ramires. The Brazilian engine has had a superb start to the season, excelling in the new deeper role José
has given him. He has averaged the most passes of any of our players so far, impressive for a player who supposedly lacks technical ability. Combine that with his pace, strength and good tackling, and I feel Ramires is one of the first names on the team sheet.

Eden Hazard (@ChelseaProject1)

Hazard – His trickery and unpredictability will cause Alaba the most problems. Cutting inside from the right will make Dante uncomfortable. Alaba likes to attack and the pace of Hazard means he can keep up and not leave Azpilicueta isolated against 2 world class players. And with Alaba attacking, it means the gap will be there in defence and with the pace of Hazard it’ll be easier to exploit. Despite being best at LW, swapping him for this game would be smart I believe as their biggest threat is through the left, and with Hazard also improving defensively, it could prove to make a big difference.

Juan Mata (@StanfordBlues)

Juan Mata. Because he is our best no.10 and because Oscar has been playing nonstop & it’ll send a resounding message to all. Even with the little ball possession we had in the United game, our passing was woeful. Mata is by far our best passer, he reads the game really well going forward. He is clever & is the most creative playing behind the no.9. Chelsea sorely need his experience and vision against a big side like Bayern & most importantly he has already played against Bayern in Chelsea’s most important game ever.

Oscar (@CarefreeAdam)

Oscar. Bayern have one of the best RW’s in the world in Robben and Cole has lost a lot of his pace so he will need a lot of help, and Oscar will track back and we know he is a decent tackler. Oscar will also help block Lahm’s runs from RB.

Romelu Lukaku (@Arjun994)

Lukaku should start because of his physicality, he has the pace and power to get behind Dante who is a very good defender, Torres doesn’t have the capability as he is low on confidence and Lukaku is eager and has something to prove.