Champions League winners Manchester City face Europa League holders Sevilla in the final of the UEFA Super Cup on Wednesday night, as the two teams do battle for the first European silverware of the new season.
Ahead of the clash in Athens, we’ve decided to revisit the history of the UEFA Super Cup.
Five of the best UEFA Super Cup games ever:
Ajax 6-1 Milan, 1973
The inaugural fixture saw European champions Ajax face Cup Winner’s Cup winners AC Milan in a two-legged encounter, with the first leg taking place at the San Siro.
Hosted at the start of the calendar year rather than it’s current place at the start of the new season, the Italian side secured a narrow first-leg victory courtesy of a Luciano Chiarugi goal and headed to Amsterdam protecting a slender 1-0 lead.
Just a week later, the contest could hardly have been more different. Ajax thrashed the visitors 6-0 on home soil, with the Dutch side having six different goalscorers in an emphatic win.
Galatasaray 2-1 Real Madrid (Golden Goal)
The only UEFA Super Cup final in history to be settled by the ‘Golden Goal’ ruling, Turkish side Galatasaray shocked Spanish giants Real Madrid in 2000.
Real had won two Champions League titles in the past three seasons and started as heavy favourites, though UEFA Cup winners Galatasaray took the lead through a Mario Jardel penalty.
Raul equalised with a penalty of his own for a Madrid side containing the likes of Luis Figo, Claude Makelele and Roberto Carlos, and the tie headed into extra-time.
With tension high and the golden goal rule active, Brazilian forward Jardel would seal the trophy for underdogs Galatasaray by firing home a winner in the extra period.
Liverpool 3-2 Bayern Munich, 2001
Gerard Houllier’s Liverpool had enjoyed a superb season in 2000/01, winning the UEFA Cup among a treble of cup competitions to earn their place in the European showpiece.
Their opponents were Champions League winners Bayern Munich, who had lifted Europe’s biggest prize with penalty shoot-out success over Valencia in May.
Houllier’s exciting young team raced into a three-goal lead, as John Arne Riise, Emile Heskey and Michael Owen put the Merseyside club in control.
European champions Bayern hit back throughย Hasan Salihamidลพiฤ and Carsen Jancker, but Liverpool held on to win a fifth trophy of the calendar year.
The UEFA Super Cup was added to a growing collection of honours, after the Reds had lifted the FA Cup, League Cup, UEFA Cup and Community Shield earlier in 2001.
Barcelona 5-4 Sevilla (a.e.t), 2015
The highest scoring one-legged Super Cup in history, Spanish rivals Barcelona and Sevilla played out a thriller in Georgia.
A breathless start saw a Lionel Messi brace cancel out Ever Banega’s opener for Sevilla, with three goals scored within the opening 16 minutes of the contest.
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Before the hour, Barcelona were 4-2 up as the two teams exchanged goals at a frantic pace, but Europa League winners Sevilla hit back through a Kevin Gameiro finish and Yevhen Konoplyanka strike to level at 4-4 and force extra-time.
The game seemed to be heading to penalties, before Pedro proved the man for the big occasion once again, netting a winner for Barcelona with just five minutes remaining.
Real Madrid 3-2 Sevilla (a.e.t), 2016
Another all-Spanish affair and another case of extra-time heartbreak for Sevilla, who returned to the UEFA Super Cup final the following year after winning consecutive Europa League titles.
Their opponents this time were Real Madrid and the La Liga rivals played out another entertaining encounter.
Marco Asensio put Champions League winners Real ahead after 21 minutes with a stunning strike from distance on his debut, before Franco Vasquez’s strike levelled the game before half-time.
Sevilla took the lead through a Konoplyanka penalty after the break and as stoppage-time approached looked to have done enough to lift the trophy.
However, in the third minute of stoppage-time Sergio Ramos – as he had done in the previous season’s Champions League final – scored an all important goal to force the final into extra-time.
Aย Timothรฉe Kolodziejczak red card saw Sevilla down to 10 men in extra-time and they battled valiantly, but their efforts were in vein as Dani Carvajal’s 119th-minute winner snatched the trophy for Real.
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