Are there still tickets? Which Real Madrid players should you watch out for? Answers to the most important questions about the Supercup.
On Wednesday (9 p.m., live on hr-iNFO and in the hessenschau.de audio stream), Eintracht Frankfurt is going for the next European title: opponents in the European Supercup are Champions League winners Real Madrid. Here is everything you need to know about the game.
The Uerfa Supercup, which the association also calls Superpokal on its German website, has been held since 1972. The fact that the winner of the Champions League and the winner of the Europa League meet here has only been the case since 2000. Before that, the European champions’ cup, i.e. the forerunner of the Champions League, had to deal with the winner of the European cup winners’ cup, which has since been abolished. Despite winning the Uefa Cup in 1980, this is Eintracht Frankfurt’s first participation in the European Super Cup. Real Madrid, on the other hand, have been there seven times and have won the Supercup four times so far.
Venue for the 48th edition of the Supercup is the Finnish capital Helsinki. The Olympic Stadium, where Finland’s national team also plays their home games, holds a good 30,000 spectators.
The Olympic Stadium in Helsinki
Eintracht’s match against Madrid in Helsinki is sold out. A total of 31,500 people will find space at the Supercup final. Both clubs have received a contingent of 10,000 tickets. Eintracht sold 8,000 to their fans, Real 1,800. 17,000 tickets went on sale via the official Uefa website, but are now all sold out.
Brit Michael Oliver will be the referee in the Supercup final. The 37-year-old was also in action at the 2021 European Championship. But there will also be a premiere for him on Wednesday: For the first time he will be supported in the game by semi-automatic offside technology. Specialized cameras are used to record 29 different points on the players’ bodies. According to Uefa, the system should also be used in the new Champions League season.
Difficult to say, because: The Supercup final will be the first competitive game of the new season for the royal team. While Frankfurt have already played in the cup and in the league, things don’t get going in Spain until next weekend – Real starts on Sunday with an away game in Almeria. In a hard-fought test match against long-time rivals FC Barcelona, there was recently a narrow 1-0 defeat against Juventus Turin, on the other hand, a 2-0 win. The reigning Champions League winner is definitely the favorite in the game against Eintracht.
Real Madrid has a whole ensemble of stars to offer. The focus is certainly on striker Karim Benzema, who was the top scorer in the Champions League last season with 15 goals. Of course, Real also have other world-class players in their ranks, including goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, ex-Bayern player David Alaba, Luka Modric and German international Toni Kroos. With Jesús Vallejo there is also a former Eintracht player in the extended squad.
That will be the big question on Wednesday night. One thing is clear: If the Frankfurters are as naive as they were at the start of the Bundesliga against Bayern (1:6) occur, there could also be a smack from Real Madrid. You have the opportunity to do better against Madrid, according to Eintracht coach Oliver Glasner: “Sometimes it’s good to get a slap in the neck so that not everyone thinks that things will continue like last year.”
The competitive game Real Madrid against Eintracht Frankfurt has only happened once so far. The game from 1960 was one for the history books: in the final of the national championship cup, both teams met in Glasgow at Hampden Park. The 7:3 for the Spaniards, which many observers call the “game of the century”, was officially watched by 127,621 spectators – a record to this day.
With everyday life in the Bundesliga. Hertha BSC is already waiting on Saturday from 3.30 p.m., on the following match day it is against 1. FC Köln. On August 25th, all eyes will be on the Champions League draw in Istanbul, where Eintracht Frankfurt, like Real Madrid, are seeded in Pot 1 and drawn three group opponents from the other pots. The first group game will then take place on September 6th or 7th.
