The plan for holding the newly formatted UEFA
Super Cup in 2024 is still not yet official.
UEFA had a scenario of changing the current UEFA
Super Cup format from one-off games to the final four tournaments in 2022.
However, the plan does not seem to be rolling out as expected yet. The European
football governing body has yet to confirm it until today, unless a sudden
announcement is anticipated in the near future. The 2024 Super Cup will be held
at the National Stadium in Warsaw, Poland.
The Expanded Format
UEFA has been studying the possibility of
expanding the Super Cup, originally a match between the champions of the top
two tiers in continental competition. The current one has been considered
rather outdated, with a single game between the winners of the Champions League
and Europa League. Such a format has become gradually less and less popular. On
the other hand, the final four format is getting more and more recognisable to
gain more revenue with more teams involved and more games to play.
The final four could be seen as a more ideal
format for the future Super Cups. The probable four teams involved might
consist of the winners of all UEFA competitions, the Champions League, the
Europa League, and the UEFA Conference League, plus probably the UCL
runners-up. The plan on expanding the Super Cup starting in 2024 would presumably attract a larger audience, especially family and female fans, with the inclusion of the pop stars showcase before the game and during half time.
However, the idea of contesting it in the USA
and involving the MLS Champions as one of the contestants is regarded as a
controversial scheme, especially among the fans. The plan to expand the market
to other continents may have been inspired by the Super Coppa Italiana, the
Spanish Super Cup, and most recently the French Super Cup, which have been held
in Asia and the Middle East.
La Liga, for example, has used the final four
format to replace the one-off super cup since the 2019–20 season. The
participants are no longer the La Liga and Copa Del Rey winners but also the
runners-up from both competitions or the best club sitting in the top four.
Such a format has been used by UEFA too for the final round of the UEFA Nations
League.
The decision for such a new format might still
be under discussion. Despite the fact that no official announcement has been made,
it is bound to happen in the near future since Sky has reportedly been named as the official rights holder for the 2004–2007 tournament cycle.
Previous Changes
The UEFA Super Cup itself has gone through
several alterations since its first edition in 1973. It was initially created
and proposed by Dutch football journalist Anton Witkamp back in 1972. Yet, it
took a year for UEFA to finally give their support for the competition. From
1973 to 1997, it was meant to be a home-and-away game between UCL and Cup
Winners Cup Champions. Then in 1998, UEFA has opted to switch the venue to a
neutral one, Stade Louis II in Monaco, as well as make it a single game instead
of double fixtures. Since 2000, UEFA Cup/Europa League winners have replaced
the Cup winners Cup one as the latter has been abolished.
In 2013, another change was made. The venue used
for staging the match is no longer the same but moves annually all across the
continent. The first one was Eden Arena in Prague. The last one in 2023 was
supposed to be held at Ak Bars Arena in Kazan, Russia. Yet, due to the Russian
football suspension following the country’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, the
venue was switched to Olympiakos home base, Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus,
Greece.
Since 2010, UCL winners have demonstrated their
domination in lifting the trophy compared to their Europa League counterparts.
The continental top tier champions have won each year except in 2010, 2012, and
2018. Atletico Madrid, surprisingly snatched the title in those years. They are
the only side which managed to meddle in the dominance of UEFA Champions League
winners in the past decade. What's more, no English managers have lifted this trophy up to this day.
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