Bayern vs Sevilla UEFA Super Cup preview: where to watch, team news

Bayern take on Sevilla in the UEFA Super Cup in Budapest on Thursday 24 September at 21:00 CET. This page will update with team news as kick-off approaches.

Where to watch the game on TV

Fans can find their local UEFA Super Cup broadcast partner(s) here.

Possible line-ups

Bayern: Neuer; Lucas Hernández, Boateng, Alaba, Davies; Goretzka, Kimmich; Sané, Müller, Gnabry; Lewandowski
Out: Coman (fitness), Kouassi (thigh)
Doubtful: Davies (unspecified)

Sevilla: Bounou; Navas, Koundé, Diego Carlos, Escudero; Rakitić, Fernando, Jordán; Suso, En-Nesyri, Ocampos

The teams

Bayern
UEFA ranking: 1
Last five competitive games : WWWWW
Summer signings: Leroy Sané (Man. City), Alexander Nübel (Schalke), Tanguy Kouassi (Paris)
2019/20: UEFA Champions League winners, 1st in Bundesliga, German Cup winners
UEFA Super Cup record: P4 W1 L3
2012/13, W vs Chelsea
2000/01, L vs Liverpool
1975/76, L vs Anderlecht
1974/75, L vs Dynamo Kyiv

Sevilla (ESP)
UEFA ranking: 8
Last five competitive games : WWWWW
Summer signings: Ivan Rakitić (Barcelona), Óscar (Real Madrid), Marcos Acuña (Sporting CP)
2019/20: UEFA Europa League winners, 4th in Liga, R16 in Copa del Rey
UEFA Super Cup record: P5 W1 L4
2015/16, L vs Real Madrid
2014/15, L vs Barcelona
2013/14, L vs Real Madrid
2006/07, L vs AC Milan
2005/06, W vs Barcelona

Previous meetings

The teams have met just once in UEFA competition, in the 2017/18 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.

No German side had ever won at Sevilla when Bayern rolled into town, and that record looked set to continue when Pablo Sarabia struck. Jesús Navas' own goal made it 1-1 before Thiago Alcántara's deflected effort won it for the visitors. A goalless second leg took Bayern through to the last four, though Joaquín Correa so nearly set up a grandstand finish as he hit the bar.

How the teams are shaping up

Just 25 days on from their UEFA Champions League final win, Bayern picked up where they left off as they made a stunning start to 2020/21 on Friday, thumping Schalke 8-0. Serge Gnabry scored a hat-trick and Leroy Sané struck on his Bayern debut as Hansi Flick's side claimed a 22nd successive win.

Sevilla are on a decent run themselves – 21 competitive matches unbeaten – though their 2020/21 campaign is yet to get under way as Liga sides involved in the latter stages of European competition were given a couple of extra weeks to prepare.

Tactics

Flick puts a big onus on fitness, and it was the intensity of Bayern's press that devastated Barcelona in last season's UEFA Champions League quarter-finals, as it has done to many teams before. Robert Lewandowski is the star of the team, but don't overlook 'Raumdeuter' Thomas Müller's influence. He covers the ground, calls the press and creates space for the wingers and full-backs to get forward and create an attacking overload. Bayern's defensive line looks too high at times, but it's a calculated risk.
Jordan Maciel, Bayern reporter

Lopetegui arranges his side in a 4-3-3 that can quickly become a 4-5-1 when not in possession. He likes them to play with unrelenting intensity, pressing high up the pitch and hounding opponents who try and play out from the back. Going forwards, keep an eye on the marauding full-backs led by Jesús Navas now that partner-in-crime Sergio Reguilón has departed, and the onus will be on Ivan Rakitić to pull the strings in midfield following the departure of Éver Banega.
Joe Walker, Sevilla reporter

View from the camps

Hansi Flick, Bayern coach: "Sevilla deservedly won the Europa League. They're a mature team, tactically good. The coach is doing a good job. It'll be dynamic, intense. From both sides you can expect a lot in a football sense and – for that reason – a top game, too. We intend to be well prepared. I'm expecting the team to be at 100%, fully focused and intense on the pitch. I'm expecting us to take it very seriously. We want to win the game. It's a final. Finals are always special."

Julen Lopetegui, Sevilla coach: "Bayern have a manager who deserves a lot of credit for the way in which he has managed the side and changed the team's fortunes by giving it a strong identity in addition to a lot of focus on teamwork. It's very difficult to do what he has done. They know exactly how they want to play, how they want to attack, where they are going to defend. In truth, we are up against the best team in the world at the moment but we don't want to just roll over."

What's next

Bayern and Sevilla will line up in the UEFA Champions League group stage draw in Nyon on 1 October, though any potential rematch will have to wait until the new year as they are both in Pot 1.