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Bayern Munich vs. Chelsea: Laying foundations of a rivalry. (Getty Images)
Slowly but surely, Guardiola is building a little Blaugrana in Bavaria by introducing his tiki-taka ways, bringing in protégé Thiago Alcantara and mentoring wunderkid Mario Gotze, as the all-conquering Die Roten look to dominate Europe just like Barcelona did under their new manager.
For Mourinho, his second-coming as Chelsea boss has brought with it a host of expectations. With the help of Roman Abramovich’s riches, Mourinho would look to build a dynasty – like Ferguson’s Manchester United – around his swarm of new midfielders in Willian, Marco van Ginkel and Andre Schurrle and loyal armada of Petr Cech, John Terry and Frank Lampard.
Billed as a personal clash between the two greatest managers of the modern era, this game also is a shot at redemption for the Bayern players, who still look back with annoyance at the missed opportunity of winning the 2012 Champions League in their own backyard – the Allianz Arena – having lost to Chelsea on penalties.
It was also the first time Chelsea won the Champions League, finally realising Russian owner’s dream. Didier Drogba fired in a bullet header in the 88th minute after Thomas Muller had given the Germans the lead in the 83rd minute. The Ivorian then scored the winning penalty – his last kick in the blue of Chelsea – to hand them the trophy.
While Bayern try to settle the scores, Chelsea would like to put one right over a wrong. The Londoners were humbled in the 2012 Super Cup, when new Monaco striker Radamel Falcao scored a hat-trick to give Atletico Madrid a 4-1 win. Gary Cahill scored Chelsea’s only goal.
On the road to the Super Cup, Bayern Munich crushed Barcelona 7-0 on aggregate in the Champions League semi-final. They then beat domestic rivals Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in the final after Arjen Robben scored an 89th minute winner. Mario Mandzukic opened the scoring for the Bundesliga champions on the hour mark, only for Ilkay Gundagon to restore parity with a penalty seven minutes later.
Chelsea too won their Europa League final in similar fashion against Benfica. Branislav Ivanovic’s injury-time header brought a triumphant end to Rafael Benitez’s ill-fated interim spell. Fernando Torres gave Chelsea the lead in the 58th minute, but an Oscar Cardozo penalty ten minutes later levelled things up for the Portuguese team.
Both teams are presently top of their respective leagues. Bayern (3-1-0, 10 points) are one point ahead of Dortmund and Chelsea (2-1-0, 7 points) are a single point above Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool, having played an extra game due to rescheduling for this Super Cup clash.
The intriguing sub-plot of the players, who are looking for retribution, will all but take a back-seat in this one, as the limelight will be on the their coaches and the abhorrence they share so mutually. Even if the contest on the field is a snooze-fest (like Chelsea’s scoreless game against United or Bayern’s 1-1 draw against Freiburg), expect the Super Cup to be lit-up by the drama that will brew by the touchline.
Popcorn, anyone?
