Certainly, looking at both teams’ achievements last season, it is easy to think that FC Barcelona will end up being the victorious side.
Nevertheless, only one Champions League winner was capable of defeating the UEFA Europa League champion over the past 3 years.
Undoubtedly, this fact is what makes it difficult for many football analyst to predict the score line;
thus, fans should not select the favorite among both teams based on their names and abilities, but rather must they select their favorite based on both team’s desire to win the UEFA Super Cup.
3 reasons for FC Barcelona to win
The Spanish coach Pep Guardiola can be happy that he was able to boost his team’s mentality. Under his leadership, Barcelona were able to bounce back from the disappointing form they got after the 2006 World Cup.
The Catalans won the Spanish League title almost 10 points ahead of hot rivals Real Madrid, and they also seized the Copa del Rey after coming from a goal down to beat Atletico Bilbao 4-1 in the final.
The only competition in which their weakness was shown was the Champions League. Despite crushing Lyon and Bayern Munich in the first two knockout stages, Barcelona stumbled against Chelsea in the semi-finals. Fortunately for them, mistakes from referee Ovrebo allowed them to meet Champions League finalists Manchester United in Rome, where they defeated the English giants 2-0.
Extending their success...
With such great moments last season, the controversial treble champions will hope to keep their momentum, so as to extend their success to next season.
Barcelona are currently hoping to clinch 6 cups out of 6 this season, and so far, things seem to go their way. After trashing Atletico Bilbao in the Spanish Super Cup 5-1 on aggregate, the Spanish champions now have 5 more trophies to fight for, as the “Supercopa de España” has already been handed over to them.
Eventually, Guardiola’s player will now turn their attentions to the UEFA Super Cup encounter against Shakhtar Donetsk which will take place this Friday – as it will be their next chance to clinch one more trophy before the beginning of the La Liga season – in other to continue their quest.
Hope before the season starts
The current La Liga winners seem quite poised to repeat last season’s triumph; nonetheless, it is true that the outcome of the UEFA Super Cup will have an impact on their form in the next nine months, as it will be their last warm-up game before the start of the upcoming season.
Surely, Pep Guardiola’s players had a wonderful time during their pre-season tour in the United States, having resisted any disappointing loss. Yet, they were unable to retain their name as “The Mighty Club”, being contained twice by English teams in other pre-season friendlies.
Their 1-1 draw against Tottenham HotSpurs in the Wembley Cup was Guardiola’s first warning against highly determined sides. However, the Spanish manager ignored it, and his side was again punished, this time by the Premier League’s richest club Manchester City, in the Joan Gamper Trophy at the Camp Nou.
Probably, in their pre-season matches, Barcelona haven’t really managed to impose their authority over sides with high team-spirits, and this could cause them an upset come August 28, at the Stade Louis II.
Indeed, the Catalans have been struggling with strong teams, but this time, the UEFA Super Cup could be a different story.
Regardless of Shakhtar Donetsk’s mental strength, the Champions League title holders could survive in Monaco, as Guardiola is expected to prepare a squad filled with his strongest players. Of course, with Messi, Xavi, and Ibrahimovic ready to give their all before their game against Sporting Gijon, the Ukrainian giants are likely to face a side which will generally be considered as “unbeatable”.
The Revenge
In fact, this could be… but one might remember Donetsk’s victory over Barcelona, and suggest something different.
In reality, the Ukrainians’ hopes can be built on the memory of their great achievement in the Champions League, when they defeated the European Kings in the group stages of the competition. Without doubt, being aware of Shakhtar’s capabilities, it wouldn’t be surprising if they were to repeat history and defeat the tri champions once again in the UEFA Super Cup.
Conversely, they’ll need to remember that such a memory will not only strengthen them, but also will it increase the desire to win of their Spanish opponents.
Even if the Barcelona squad that lost to the Ukrainians wasn’t selected out of the list of Barcelona’s regular players, the Champions League winners will hope to make a correction, and this time, they will want to do so in a match which will be of greater importance than the one they lost.
The UEFA Europa League defending champions will then need to make extra work if the outcome of the game was to go in their favor.
Shakhtar Donetsk – keeping the strong defense
On the other hand, Shakhtar can also think that they deserve to succeed in their UEFA Super Cup encounter against FC Barcelona.
Notwithstanding their unsuccessful campaign in the Champions League, the Ukrainians moved to the UEFA Europa League, where nothing seemed to stop them from progressing.
Shakhtar won their first match against Tottenham in the round 32 of the UEFA Europa League to go through the next round of the competition after defeating the Londoners 3-1 on aggregate.
The champions then conceded only three and scored twelve goals in their next six Europa League games to reach the final, where they beat Werder Bremen 2-1 in a single-legged match.
So, in all, with 17 goals scored and only 5 goals conceded in the competition, Shakhtar Donetsk can boast of having one of the best attacks and defenses in Europe.
Definitely, this could be their main threat against Barcelona in the UEFA Super Cup, as Barcelona have proved to be less consistent when it comes to fighting strong defenses. Eventually, one might think that the least Shakhtar could do, would be to hold the Catalans to a draw throughout the 90 minutes.
In this case, it would be a case of physical strength and fitness, and the winner might end up being the one who manages to hold on till the game gets over.
Anyway, predictions are very hard to make in such occasions. Therefore, the most fans can do is to remain hopeful upon the outcome of the match, as both teams prepare to face each other’s mentality.
