Chelsea FC will meet Bayern Munich, the current Champions League holders at Prague for UEFA Super Cup, courtesy their Europa League win last May. This high-profile encounter could be fathomed as a rematch of the 2012 Champions League final, which Chelsea won thanks to Didier Drogba. The managers at helm at both Chelsea & Bayern, Jose Mourinho & Josep Guardiola, who were appointed this summer, have taken the excitement levels of this otherwise inconspicuous tie to humongous proportions.
Let us have a look at the information we need.
DATE & TIME: August 30, 2013 at 14:45 EDT, August 30, 2013 at 18:45 GMT; August 30, 2013 at 19:45 BST; August 30, 2013 at 19:45 WAT; August 30, 2013 at 20:45 CAT; August 30, 2013 at 21:45 EAT; August 30, 2013 at 12:15am IST.
VENUE: Eden Arena, Prague, Czech Republic.
TV/STREAMING NEWS: Chelsea TV will stream the game live. The game is also available online on Sky Go in UK and Fox Soccer 2 in USA. The match will be telecast live on ESPN Australia in Australia, Sportsnet World in Canada, SuperSport 3 in Central African Republic, ZDF Sport & Sky Sport 1 in Germany, Ten Action in India, Italia 1 & Sky Calcio 1 in Italy, Canal+1 & TVE La Primera in Spain, Al Jazeera Sport +3 in UAE, Sky Sports 1/HD & ITVHD in UK, Fox Sports 2 in USA.
CHELSEA FC SQUAD NEWS: Chelsea have travelled to Prague with their entire squad, barring the new signings Willian & Samuel Eto’o. Tomas Kalas hasn’t yet recovered from his fractured leg. Mourinho has confirmed David Luiz is fit, but will decide before the match whether he is ready to start a game.
PREDICTED STARTING XI: Cech, Azpilicueta, Ivanovic, Luiz, Cole, Essien, Marco van Ginkel, de Bruyne, Mata, Schurrle, Torres.
BAYERN MUNICH SQUAD NEWS: Bayern had an injury scare in Schweinsteiger against Freiburg, but the physios have declared him fit to play. Thiago Alcantara however is out. Javi Martinez is returning from injury which he picked up on national team duty.
PREDICTED STARTING XI(4-1-4-1): Neuer, Lahm, Dante, van Buyten, Alaba, Schweinsteiger, Robben, Goetze, Kroos, Ribery, Mandzukic.
FUN
TRIVIA:
- Chelsea have played Bayern thrice in Europe, the results being a win, a defeat & a draw.
- Didier Drogba was the only player to have been in scoresheet on all three games.
- This will be Guardiola & Mourinho’s 16th meeting. Pep leads Jose by 7-5-3.
IN A NUTSHELL: A win will give either team a trophy to begin the season with. A defeat will leave behind lessons. However, neither a win nor a defeat should play a crucial role in the fate of both teams this season. It should be interesting to see how Mourinho’s young lads take on the finished products of Bayern, whom Guardiola is molding into “Tiki-Taka” magicians at the moment.
