Another edition of the UEFA Super Cup took place on August 13. It was a tense game between Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham Hotspur, which the reigning European champions won. The victory begs a question. If the Champions League teams win year after year, does holding the competition make much sense?
The Super Cup is an annual UEFA-organised match held at the beginning of each football season. Initially, the competition was known as the ‘Super Competition’. The name later changed to ‘European Super Cup’, and finally, in 1995, to ‘UEFA Super Cup’.
The match is held between the winner of the Champions League and the winner of the Europa League from the previous season. In the past, the competition was held over two legs, one at the stadium of each participating team. Since 1998, that is no longer the case. The trophy is won over one game played in a neutral stadium.
There is one glaring issue with the current form of the competition: the two teams participating are usually not equal. The Champions League is the highest European league, while the Europa League is B-tier, gathering different teams that did not make it to the top. Therefore, it is no surprise that in a vast majority of cases, the CL teams take the trophy home.
The last time the ‘weaker’ team managed to win the Super Cup was in 2018. It was then that Atletico Madrid beat Real Madrid 4:2. Every year since then, the Champions League winners have taken the trophy home. In some cases, the victory was clear-cut; in others, the match was only resolved through a penalty shootout. But no matter the circumstances, the victors remained the same.
As is often the case in life, things aren’t always black and white. While looking at the final results might give the impression that the Super Cup games must be boring and predictable, they are often anything but.
The game held between PSG and Tottenham ended up with the Champions League winner coming out on top, but it wasn’t by any means a game dominated by the Parisians. Micky van de Ven scored the first goal for the English team before the first half ended, giving them a lead coming into the break. Their advantage strengthened in the 48th minute, with a goal scored by Cristian Romero. Tottenham were, by all means, dominating the game.
The tide turned towards the very end of the game. With less than ten minutes on the clock, PSG was still two points down on their rivals. Just as they began losing hope, Lee Kang-in scored the much-needed contact goal, breathing new life into the team. Goncalo Ramos equalized the score in the fourth minute of the added time, leading to penalties, which the Parisians ultimately won.
So, while the records will show yet another expected victory, can it be said that the game was a waste of time? Many fans, especially does rooting for PSG or Tottenham, would surely disagree.
The Super Cup is a good season opener, even if predicting the winners is much easier than in many other games. It can provide good entertainment and, above all else, some good football for the hungry fans. As long as it isn’t taken too seriously, it is a great addition to the usual European calendar.
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