Chelsea vs Villarreal LIVE: Uefa Super Cup result, final score and reaction after penalty shootout
Relive all the action as last season’s Champions League and Europa League winners met in Belfast
Kepa Arrizabalaga came off the bench to save two penalties and earn Chelsea Super League success in a shoot-out victory over Villarreal.
Thomas Tuchel made the call to replace Edouard Mendy in the closing stages of the 1-1 draw - with Kepa then providing the heroics.
Kai Havertz missed the first spot-kick but after that Chelsea were perfect while both Aissa Mandi and Raul Albiol both saw their penalties saved as Chelsea won the shoot-out 6-5.
Hakim Ziyech shone from the start and opened the scoring only to injure his shoulder before half-time to give Thomas Tuchel a worry ahead of the Premier League opener against Crystal Palace on Saturday. Relive all the action live below:
Chelsea 0 - 0 Villarreal
3 mins: Chelsea attempt to work the ball down the left side with Kai Havertz and Timo Werner combining well. They can’t find a way through the Villarreal defence which is sitting deep. The ball comes back to Alonso who is clipped by Gerard Moreno arriving late with a lunging tackle. Free kick Chelsea.
Chelsea 0 - 0 Villarreal
Kick off: The Chelsea players take the knee before they kick off the game. Trevoh Chalobah has started on the right side of the back three. He almost loses possession but Chelsea manage to recover the ball quickly and send it out to Marcos Alonso on the left wing. He tries to sweep into the box but can’t find a way through the Villarreal defence.
Here come the teams
N’Golo Kante leads out Chelsea carrying the Champions League trophy as is customary for this game. Villarreal’s captain Raul Albiol follows with the Europa League trophy is his possession.
The venue
Windsor Park is looking great as the venue for tonight’s clash.
Champions League winners Chelsea and Europa League holders Villarreal will contest the Uefa Super Cup at the Northern Ireland National Stadium in front of 13,000 spectators, with television coverage beamed around the world to billions of viewers in more than 200 countries
The debutants
22-year-old Trevoh Chalobah makes his debut for Chelsea this evening having spent last season on loan at Lorient. He’s been a fixture for Chelsea during their pre-season games and gets the nod from Thomas Tuchel.
Villarreal striker Dia also makes his club debut tonight. The Senegalese international joined this summer from Stade de Reims, one of the first two teams to compete in a European Cup final back in 1956.
He’ll support Gerard Moreno and Yeremi Pino in the forward line and will come up against Chalobah. Who’ll win the battle of the debutants?
Fans flock to Belfast
The Villarreal fans have been enjoying themselves in Belfast. They’re certainly up for this one and Windsor Park is buzzing with anticipation. Kick off is only 15 minutes away now
Moreno vs Mendy
Villarreal’s Gerard Moreno was directly involved in 10 goals in 12 games during their 2020-21 Europa League run with Chelsea’s Edouard Mendy keeping nine clean sheets in his 2020-21 Champions League campaign.
It was the most by a goalkeeper in their debut season in the competition so this should be a good, tough contest for Moreno and co tonight.
Thomas Tuchel understands Tammy Abraham’s frustrations with Chelsea playing time
23-year-old Tammy Abraham fell out of favour under Thomas Tuchel, making just 22 appearances, starting 12, for Chelsea in the Premier League last season.
The England frontman was also excluded from Chelsea’s Champions League final squad after playing just five games in the build-up to their 1-0 success over Manchester City.
In search of more playing mintues he has been linked with a move to Roma and has to make do with a place on Chelsea’s bench tonight:
Thomas Tuchel understands Tammy Abraham’s frustrations with Chelsea playing time
The striker looks set to slip further down the pecking order with the reported arrival of Romelu Lukaku
Villarreal looking to make history
This is the 18th consecutive Super Cup game involving an English or Spanish team, with 2003 the last time neither country featured as AC Milan beat Porto 1-0.
If they manage to win tonight Villarreal could become the sixth Spanish team to win the Super Cup, a new record for the most different teams from a single nation to have won the trophy.
If they do manage to lift the Super Cup it will only be Villarreal’s second ever European trophy after they won the Europa League back in May.
Third time lucky for Emery
Unai Emery has coached in two previous Super Cup matches, in 2014 and 2015 with Sevilla, and lost both. He’s more determined than ever to lift the trophy this time round.
“I want to win the Super Cup because so far I haven’t.” said Emery
“I’ve been involved in two and lost both. It would be a great way to finish off last season. We could once again create history and achieve something wonderful ahead of the new campaign.
“The Super Cup will show what we are capable of against a top team like Chelsea, the reigning European champions and, for me, the best team in the world.”
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies