Spanish Super Cup: Barcelona, Sevilla Hunting Momentum in the Cup That Deceives

Vicente Iborra put it neatly. 

“It would be a very special moment,” the new Sevilla captain told Marca, when asked ahead of the UEFA Super Cup what it would mean to lift the trophy. “It would be a moment to remember all the people who got us here.”

Those who got us here? 

Typically when you reach a final, there’s no need to thank such figures. The reason why you’re here is because you got yourself here.

But these particular affairs are often different in this respect.

On Sunday, Sevilla meet Barcelona at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan to kick-off the two-legged Spanish Super Cup in what is the club’s second chance to grab silverware this month after contesting the European equivalent against Real Madrid on August 9.

Under new boss Jorge Sampaoli, the Andalusians are looking for early momentum, aiming to build on last season’s platform that earned them a berth in this fixture. Theoretically, it’s a carryover they’d be after here. 

And yet, in this case, there’s nothing to carry over. 

The team that got Sevilla here was former manager Unai Emery’s, but Emery is now at Paris Saint-Germain and the squad upheaval this summer has been extensive. Ten players have left, key figures such as Grzegorz Krychowiak, Kevin Gameiro, Ever Banega and Coke among them; replacing them, nine new faces have come in—exciting ones, yes, but players who need time to settle and gel. 

This had been Iborra’s point. The Sevilla that will face Barcelona is not the Sevilla that earned the right to face Barcelona. But it’s not just them: The Barcelona they’ll face is also a little different from the Barcelona that got here. 

Together, then, these teams illustrate the somewhat hollow nature of Super Cups. Trophies are on the line and that matters, but these contests are limited as indicators. Deceptive in recent years, the Spanish version of the concept has become an example.  

Six years have now passed since victors in the Spanish Super Cup have gone on to claim that season’s league title or simply excel more generally. 

On that occasion, it was Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona that stormed to La Liga’s crown following a come-from-behind, 5-3 aggregate victory—over Sevilla, funnily enough—in the domestic season’s curtain-raiser in August 2010. 

The Catalans won the Supercopa the following year too, but in the process kick-started a run that has rejected any notion of momentum in this trophy. 

Indeed, that season, the 2011-12 one, Barcelona fell well short of Real Madrid in the league and were knocked out of the Champions League by a limited Chelsea. The following year, Real’s capture of the Super Cup preceded the implosion …

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