Manchester City vs Sevilla

Stadio Georgios Karaiskakis is the venue as Champions League winners Manchester City and Europa League specialists Sevilla go head-to-head in the UEFA Super Cup showpiece.

Manchester City’s maiden appearance in the European Super Cup comes off the back of a historic treble-winning campaign. Pep Guardiola’s side squeezed past Inter Milan 1-0 in last season’s Champions League final to take home the coveted trophy for the first time. During their triumphant European run in 2022/23, the ‘Citizens’ crushed Sevilla twice in the group stages, 4-0 and 3-1, respectively, maintaining an impressive 100% win ratio in the all-time H2H record (W4). It’s worth noting Man City netted 12 goals in those matches while conceding only three in return. Despite losing to Arsenal on penalties in the Community Shield showdown a fortnight ago, Guardiola’s men have regrouped quickly to thump newly-promoted Burnley 3-0 in last weekend’s Premier League curtain-raiser.

In the meantime, Sevilla had to settle for an underwhelming 12th-place finish in La Liga last season after spending the whole campaign in the lower reaches. But while they cannot forget their domestic struggle soon enough, ‘Los Rojiblancos’ reinforced their status as ‘Europa League kings,’ beating Roma on penalties to win a record-extending seventh title. Jose Luis Mendilibar’s appointment as the new manager in April proved a turning point for the Andalusian strugglers. However, they have all to prove in Piraeus following a 2-1 home defeat to Valencia at the start of the 2023/24 La Liga season. Man City can hardly be qualified as a desired opponent, especially considering Sevilla’s dreadful run of one win in their last five European matches against English clubs (D1, L3).