Pre-season and Super Cup matches worth watching

The Chelsea v Real Madrid encounter would be a tasty one what with Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho (in pic) pitting their wits again.

I know some people are eagerly awaiting the start of their favourite European football leagues and for most, they cannot start soon enough, but it is important not to totally gloss over the pre-season friendlies and Super Cups that will be played over the next month or so.

While we all put different value on certain competitions, there are some potential intriguing matches that will occur over this time frame that shape how we view some key teams in the wonderful world of European football.

The pre-season can often act as a great mirage that fools us all. The organizers in Europe, the US and Asia do their best to put together compelling matches, but we often get ‘treated’ to very uncompetitive affairs.

I was fooled in the summer of 2011 when Barcelona and Manchester United met in Washington, just a few weeks removed from their Champions League Final clash. This match was far from the level of the glorious final and I vowed after that to never again fall for the hype. Yet, the US might have organized a tournament that could change that perception just a bit.

Over the past few years, the US has hosted summer tournaments featuring top clubs from Europe that were determined by a point system. They were basically just a group of teams playing to earn the most points with no actual two team final and in most cases, all the teams did not play each other.

They were done in this way to ensure that teams would get a set amount of matches and could properly schedule their travel and preparations. It all amounted to tournaments no one cared about, results that really did not mean anything, and the inclusion of certain MLS sides that did not stack up.

Then someone came up with the brilliantly structured International Champions Cup. This is a tournament structure that guarantees each participant three matches and locked in the locations and dates for scheduling convenience. They eliminated the less appealing MLS sides and only included the LA Galaxy, the most relevant team in the US at the moment.

The other seven sides are all first rate European club teams: Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Everton, and Valencia. The tournament promises at worst some very intriguing match ups, because sides are forced into ‘loser bracket’ matches or placement matches based on their results.

The carrot this tournament is really dangling is a potential meeting between Real Madrid and Chelsea, either in the Final or a third place match.

This would more than likely be the most important friendly ever played on US soil. Whether or not either side would go full speed is a tough question to answer, but there is no doubt the bitter feelings that Jose Mourinho created upon his departure would create a great build up.

Real Madrid would not want to miss a chance to smack around their former manager’s new side, while Jose would love to do the same with a side that he believes loves him more. There is no doubt it will make for great drama.

Tottenham Hotspur versus Monaco is a match that intrigues me because I think there is a hidden agenda here. There is no rivalry or tournament competition surrounding this match, so it is by all intents a pure friendly. Yet, I think that Tottenham scheduled this match to actually show off the skills of Bale to Monaco, a potential suitor for next season. It also allows for Bale to have some interplay with the Monaco players.

That seems a bit devious, but Spurs are likely going to be forced to finally sell next year and getting the interest of the new big spenders on the block could help drive up the price. There is no reason to think otherwise. I will be watching to see if Bale features at all and how much he plays.

Jurgen Klopp would love to beat Bayern Munich in their Super Cup clash next month

Super Cups gain and lose interest based on the participants. Whether you give these trophies real value or not is a story for another day, but the last two years the German, English, and Spanish Supercups have all been hotly contested.

It really depends on the match-ups. Bayern Munich meeting Borussia Dortmund last season had a lot of meaning, and little did we know at the time that it would be a Champions League Final preview. Dortmund had dominated Bayern the previous season in all their meetings. It was important for Bayern to get a win and get over being snake bitten by Dortmund. This season offers a few match ups that will be well worth watching.

Without a doubt, the most intriguing Supercup will be the UEFA Super Cup between Chelsea and Bayern. We did not have to wait long for old rivals Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola to lock horns. In this battle of egos, I do not envision either man will take this match lightly.

For Chelsea, it’s a chance to really establish themselves as viable contenders for all competitions going forward. For Bayern, it’s a chance to put a trophy on the wall that gets them closer to a sixtuple, something Pep achieved at Barca.

The Community Shield should be a lopsided affair. Manchester United and Wigan Athletic are always going to be miles apart as far as quality is concerned, but this season, with Wigan dropping down a division, the gap is larger.

Wigan could really use a boost in confidence. Fighting your way back up to the Premier League can be extremely difficult. David Moyes could really benefit from grabbing a quick trophy and starting the season off on the right foot. The opposite result could be really bad for the start of his tenure.

The English press would have a feeding frenzy if his team lost to a Championship side. In a way, Moyes has more to lose than to gain, so in a very twisted way this has become a must-win game. You do not want the ghost of Sir Alex haunting you from the outset.

The Spanish Super Cup has provided two consecutive years of top class football. Barcelona and Real Madrid met on both of those occasions and played as if more than just a pre-season cup was on the line. This year, Atletico Madrid enter the mix after beating Real Madrid in the Copa Del Rey Final last season.

Falcao has moved on, but David Villa has moved from Barcelona to Atletico to fill the space left by the departing star. Villa will certainly have something to prove against his old club. For Barcelona, this will be an important tie as they need to get off on the right foot after losing Tito Vilanova so suddenly.

They will not want to allow Atletico to get any confidence in themselves by dropping a game they should win handily on paper. For Atletico, it will be important to have a strong showing in their first big test in the post-Falcao era. They have lost big strikers before, but this season they are considered to be outside contenders for La Liga.

The German Super Cup is a rematch between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich. It is also the first meeting between the two clubs since their epic Champions League Final. Do you really have to say anything more than that? Some may be getting a bit tired of these two sides constantly playing each other, similar to Barca and Real Madrid, but why? It is a puzzle piece for Bayern on their road to the sixtuple.

For Dortmund, it is a chance for some revenge and to get a leg up on their rivals. Guardiola seems to hoard trophies and I bet Dortmund would love to get in the way of him raising another, no matter how minor.

Every season starts with the hope that all the planning and preparation will pay off. Many of these pre-season matches and Supercups present us with a chance to see what the future may hold. Some of these matches may not live up to the hype, and the post-match handshakes might be more entertaining.

Still, they are better than watching no football at all. Image that for a second.