August 11, (THEWILL) –Â Wednesday’s European Super Cup final between Chelsea and Villarreal sees a return of continental football at the club level at a scale absent since the conclusion of the UEFA Champions League, when English teams Manchester City and Chelsea slugged it out at the end of May with Chelsea escaping 1-0 winners.
This final pits the English London club against the Spanish side coached by the “King of the Europa” Unai Emery of Villarreal, the veteran of many a Europa final and most often the victor. For many Nigerians, it will be unfortunate that Samuel Chukwueze will not play due to injury.
It was the same injury that kept the Nigerian away from their UEFA Europa final where the tactician in Emery stood out when the match against another English side, Manchester United, needed to be resolved via penalties as the epic shootouts bore witness. He must have prepared his entire team for the eventuality of penalty kicks, including his keeper.
Throughout regular time, Villarreal appeared overwhelmed and United could have capitalised and ended the match as a contest while the Spanish side flailed. Part of the reason they could not was the in-built technical skill, the bravery and the sheer know-how of their record breaking coach, which translated into the Villarreal game and got them through the test of fire.
After 21 shots and 20 goals in a penalty shootout that will be remembered for a long time to come, the UEFA Europa trophy went to the Yellow Submarines for their first ever continental trophy but a fourth for Emery. United may have been accused of underrating Villarreal but that is not something that can be said of Chelsea under Thomas Tuchel.
Therefore, at 8.00 PM local time on Wednesday, at the Windsor Park in Belfast, Northern Ireland, the Russian referee Sergei Karasev will keep things under control between Chelsea and Villarreal for a determination of which side is worthy to begin the season with a European title.
Chelsea’s 24-man squad has Tuchel’s first team selection complete for the competition with the added bonus of some loan returnees, such as Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Trevoh Chalobah, and fringe players ready to step in when called upon.
The German manager will have the same squad rotation headaches that disturbed his selection last season but he knows how he wants to play every match and has seldom been found wanting in his team selection and match formation. What he will have to do is take cognizance of all the competitions the team will play and find a balance of work and rest to avoid injuries and burnout.
For the Yellow Submarines of La Liga, Emery has also not spared any first team player he can pack into his squad for the Belfast fixture. It is unfortunate that he still cannot call on the services of midfielder Daniel Parejo Munoz and Chukwueze, who has recently been associated with a move to Chelsea, continues to recover.
Fortunately, the former Tottenham Spurs defender Juan Foyth, who suffered a knock on Tuesday, looks to be okay to play but will pass a medical first and Pau Torres, the other Villarreal player briefly linked with Chelsea, will be good to go even though he has scarcely had any rest all summer long.
Chukwueze’s teammates who are also in the squad include familiar names like Étienne Capoue, Raúl Albiol, the consistent goal-threat Alberto Moreno, Paco Alcácer, and former Arsenal player Francis Coquelin.
Emery’s charges finished seventh in La Liga, but that epic penalty victory over United in the Europa League final allowed them take the trophy of the second tier of continental football, qualify for the next season’s UCL and to be the ones filing out on Wednesday to battle Chelsea for the Super Cup.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
