FC Barcelona (Photo : Reuters)
La Liga clubs FC Barcelona and Sevilla FC will battle it out in the 2015 UEFA Super Cup on Tuesday, August 11 at the Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Barça and Sevilla are the champions of the 2014-2015 UEFA Champions League and the 2014-2015 UEFA Europa League respectively, which made them qualify for this annual competition.
The Catalonia giants had a forgettable International Champions Cup this summer, managing just one win in four matches in the North American leg of the friendlies. Perhaps the main reason why Luis Enrique's side did not have a productive tourney was the absence of his two South American superstars, Lionel Messi and Neymar Jr., who are still on vacation that time after the Copa America competitions.
Messi is back in this Super Cup match against the Sevillistas, but Neymar is still sidelined after recently catching mumps.
Barça is coming off an intense friendly match with AS Roma last week, where they routed the Giallorossi, 3-0, after a near brawl between Messi and Roma defender Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa in the opening minutes of the match, as reported by Bleacher Report.
Meanwhile, Los Nervionenses' most recent game was a 1-3 friendly loss to German club Werder Bremen, as per SkySports.
Prior to the exhibition game loss, Unai Emery's wards went on a five-game unbeaten stretch dating back to their Spanish Primera BBVA match against Celta Vigo on May 10.
Prediction: A smashing 3-0 rout for Barça over Sevilla. Even without the presence of the young Seleção captain, Messi, Luis Suárez, and the rest of Enrique's crew are still pretty hard to beat. Plus, Spanish forward Pedro is still with the team to fill-in for Neymar.
FC Barcelona starting lineup (4-3-3 formation): ter Stegen; Mathieu, Alves, Mascherano, Piqué; Busquets, Rakitić, Iniesta; Suárez, Pedro, Messi
Sevilla starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Beto; Tremoulinas, Krychowiak, Coke, Mariano; Banega, Iborra; Vitolo, Konoplyanka, Reyes; Gameiro
