Coming up on Friday is Roberto Di Matteo’s chance to pick up his first piece of silverware this season as Chelsea take on Atletico Madrid for the European Super Cup, taking place in Monaco with the kick-off at 1945.
There were perhaps not too many predicting Chelsea’s bid for this particular trophy last season, particularly after losing 3-1 at Napoli and their subsequent draw, but somehow the Blues managed to defy the odds to go on and lift the Champions League trophy for the first time in May.
They needed to as they were hugely disappointing in the Premier League, only managing to finish sixth, but their victory at the Allianz Arena secured another season of Champions League football.
The Blues’ European success and FA Cup win last term, which was enough to secure Di Matteo a permanent deal, was largely based on defence with Chelsea trying to stifle the perceived strengths of the likes of Barcelona and Bayern Munich, which obviously worked despite the number of chances that their opponents created.
However, the addition of the likes of Eden Hazard and Oscar to the squad seems to suggest that the team could adopt a more progressive approach with Chelsea banging in eight goals in the opening three games to top the Premier League table at this early stage.
Even though they were largely second best to Manchester City in the Community Shield, Chelsea still managed to score twice so we could be in store for a far more entertaining fixture in Europe from the Londoners this time around.
The Stamford Bridge giants have been installed as the 6/5 favourites in the match betting, with the Spanish outfit on offer at 23/10 to add to their Europa League triumph of last year, with the draw available at 12/5.
Atletico missed out on the Champions League after finishing fifth in La Liga last season but fighting on two fronts may well have seen Los Colchoneros just run out of steam.
The capital club opened the new campaign with a 1-1 draw at Levante but warmed up for this showpiece clash with a resounding 4-0 thumping of the team they defeated to lift the Europa League title in May, Athletic Bilbao.
That was at the Vicente Calderon, though, where they are a much tougher proposition but they didn’t fare too badly in Europe last season and pose a very real threat to Chelsea’s aspirations.
Atletico arguably have the better strikeforce with one-time Chelsea target Radamel Falcao underlying his credentials with a hat-trick last weekend.
It would be foolish to ignore the Colombian hitman in the goalscoring markets and he looks good value at 13/2 to score the first or last goal on Friday, while he can be backed at 7/4 anytime.
Fernando Torres (9/2 First/Last, 5/4 Anytime) is perhaps enjoying life more this season, with two goals in his first three games, but he is still tarnished by past failures even if he is taking on the club where he made his name.
It certainly looks like an entertaining match with the promise of goals and, at the prices, Atletico might just be the team to arrest Chelsea’s early-season momentum.
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