TipResumen

INTRODUCTION

The Spanish Super Cup is the curtain raiser to the start of the La Liga which will be played one week before the start of the season. It will be played in neutral grounds in Morocco, but that does not change the fact that Barcelona will still be the favourite here despite Sevilla already having played several matches in the Europa League this season. Barcelona who won the double last season will face Sevilla who was the runners up in the Copa Del Rey. By finishing seventh in the La Liga, Sevilla has to play the qualifiers of the Europa League this season. Barcelona qualified to the Champions League group stage automatically and they have also been regulars of the Spanish Super Cup at the start of the season.



FC BARCELONA

It can be said that out of the last ten Super Cup matches, Barcelona was absent from just one, which was in 2014. In total, they won five Super Cups in their history and it can be said that they dominate the competition, although last season they failed to win the title and lost to Real Madrid twice. After that they managed to win both domestic titles and the defeat to Real Madrid was quickly forgotten. However, their fans was unhappy they failed to go all the way in the Champions League, in which their greatest rival Real Madrid won. Now they will want to start the season with a title and the fact that their opponent is Sevilla in which they defeated in last year's Copa del Rey should work nicely in their favour. The Catalans have improved their side this season by bringing in stopper Lenglet, as well as two young Brazilians, Malcom and Arthur, as well as the experienced Vidal Arturo from Bayern Munich in the transfer window. The likes of Mina and A. Gomez left the team, but that has not weakened the team just as the departure of Digne as well.



FC SEVILLA

They finished seventh in La Liga and considering the finished seventh in La Liga, they got into the Europa League through the back door it can be said. That is the reason why they have to go through the qualifications. They got through the first hurdle as they managed to beat Hungarian Ujpes by 7-1 in aggregate, and now in the third qualifying round they will come up against a much stronger opponent in Lithuanian Zalgirs which they managed to win by 1-0 at home. There is still the second leg to come however. In the meantime there is the Super Cup where they are huge underdogs against Barcelona in the meantime. New manager Pablo Machin must play his strongest side here and at the same time make sure he has players who can play the second leg in the Europa League to come. New goalkeeper Vaclik will start in goal as Rico and Soria have left their side, while stopper Gnagnon and midfielder Amadou are pushign for starts in this match.



PAST MEETINGS

Barcelona won the Copa del Rey final beating Sevilla by 5-0, while in the La Liga, Barcelona won at home and the away game was a draw.