What's Going On . . . in all these Super Cups

This is the Super Cup season and its coming to an end. They go by different names, e.g., Community Shield, Recopa Sudamericana, etc., and they tend to come in two forms – domestic and continental. In the domestic versions, they usually take place a week or so before the beginning of the regular season and serve as a tune-up for the upcoming season. Generally, they take place between the previous season’s domestic league champion and the domestic cup champion. In Europe, several have taken place recently. A sample of results is below:

England: (Community Shield) Manchester United 0 Portsmouth 0 (Manchester United won on penalty kicks.)

Italy: Inter Milan 2 Roma 2 (Inter Milan won on penalty kicks.)

Spain: Real Madrid 6 Valencia 5 (Two game aggregate score)

Germany: Borussia Dortmund 2 Bayern Munchen 1

France: Bordeaux 0 Lyon 0 (Bordeaux won on penalty kicks.)

Netherlands: PSV Eindhoven 2 Feyenoord 0

Portugal: Sporting CP 2 Porto 0

That’s what’s gone on this year in Super Cup season. What’s going on in Super Cup season? This week marks the end of continental Super Cup season. Up first, on Wednesday, is the second leg of the two-leg Recopa Sudamericana, which I wrote about a few weeks ago. The Recopa Sudamericana pits the 2007 Copa Libertadores champion (Boca Juniors) against the 2007 Copa Sudamerican champions (Arsenal de Sarandi). After winning the first leg 3-1, Boca Juniors hosts the second leg this week.

In Europe, the current version of the UEFA Super Cup takes place on Friday between the reigning Champions League victor (Manchester United) against the reigning UEFA Cup champs (Zenit St. Petersburg). The match takes place at Stade Louis II in Monaco. While the Super Cup and Recopa Sudamericana, like the domestic Super Cups, are little more than exhibitions, hardware is hardware and you should always take it when you can.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008 – Recopa Sudamericana
Arsenal de Sarandi at (20) Boca Juniors

Friday, August 29, 2008 – UEFA Super Cup
(1) Manchester United vs. Zenit St. Petersburg