2023-08-16 20:22:33
Manchester City is the new European champion. The English team beat Seville on penalties in Greece and won the Super Cup, after 1-1 in regulation time. The match was played in the city of Piraeus.
In the first minutes, a Spanish team was seen determined to press their rival well up high to force errors at the start and from there generate danger. Strategy that seemed correct, but as the timer ticked off it faded and the tone of the match was more like what the Champions League champion wanted.
After 8 minutes, Manchester City had their first big chance in Aké’s header that forced Bono to react with a wonderful fly to avoid 1-0. At 16, once again the Moroccan goalkeeper was going to be key with a save against a mid-range shot by Jack Grealish, who had managed to turn from the left to the center to finish off the far post.
It seemed that Guardiola’s team was approaching the opening of the scoring but after 25 minutes, Marcos Acuña was able to climb up the left and launched a perfect cross for the great jump of Youssef En-Nesyri, who beat Josko Gvardiol and hit the ball. frenazo to put the 1-0 in favor of Sevilla.
After the goal, Manchester City went all out on the attack to find an equalizer but failed to do so in that first stage, despite constant attempts, especially from the left side with Grealish. It is that the Spanish team was able to perfectly contain both Haaland and Foden and thus left a Guardiola team without ideas that ended up falling in the long passes and centers that did not worry their rival too much.
In the second half, the same 11 from each team jumped and nothing else started, Sevilla had the second. Lucas Ocampos escaped from the left into the free field and assisted Youssef En-Nesyri on the other side, who arrived unmarked in the area and defined first, but Ederson excelled with his bailing and covered with his feet to avoid the second goal.
It seemed that the Spanish team was close to extending the advantage, they even had several counterattacks to score, but they always came out in the final meters, against a static City, lacking in creativity and disordered in the background. But, football has no logic and at that moment of confusion for the Manchester team it was 1-1. It was a cross to the far post that found Cole Palmer, who hit the cross at the changed post before Bono left and shouted equality.
At 1-1, the best of the English champion was seen. Palmer, with confidence for the goal, became indecipherable in each attack and Grealish, on the left sector, shattered Sevilla’s defense that dedicated itself to enduring the attacks from the wings.
At the end, Bono had to become a figure of the Europa League champion to avoid City’s second that had several clear ones, especially in a header from Aké and a mid-distance shot from Walker. In addition, with six minutes to go, Guardiola sent Julián Álvarez onto the pitch instead of Palmer.
On penalties, Haaland, Julián Álvarez, Kovacic, Grealish and Walker scored for the Manchester team. Ocampos, Rafa Mir, Rakitic and Montiel scored for Sevilla, but Nemanja Gudelj missed the decisive shot.
The English club, champion for the first time in its history in the Champions League, and the Spanish team, top winner of the Europa League with seven trophies, are fighting for the first title of the 2023/24 European season.
Julián Álvarez was a substitute in the team led by the Spanish Pep Guardiola, and entered with six minutes remaining. At the time of penalties, he took charge of the second and scored by kicking to the left of the goalkeeper, who flew to the other stick. It is the fourth title for the Argentine at the English club, just a year after his arrival.
In Seville, for their part, Marcos Acuña, Lucas Ocampos, Erik Lamela were the starters. Ocampos, precisely, scored one of the penalties, like Gonzalo Montiel, who had entered in the second half. Also part of the squad, but did not add minutes, Alejandro Gómez and the recent reinforcement, Federico Gattoni.
For Guardiola, in turn, he added the 36th title of his career and the fourth Super Cup since he won two with Barcelona and one with Bayern Munich. In this way, he establishes himself as the second most winning coach in history, only behind Sir Alex Ferguson, who maintains the impressive mark of 49 trophies.
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