Real Madrid vs Eintracht Frankfurt in the 2022 UEFA Super Cup in Helsinki: All you need to know
Wednesday, August 10, 2022
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Real Madrid will meet Eintracht Frankfurt for the first time in 62 years as the sides come together in Helsinki to compete for the UEFA Super Cup on Wednesday 10 August.
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Who will contest the UEFA Super Cup?
UEFA Champions League winners Real Madrid will meet UEFA Europa League winners Eintracht Frankfurt in the traditional curtain-raiser to the new European season.
It will be the sides' first competitive meeting since the sensational 1960 European Cup final, when Real Madrid won the competition for the fifth time in a row, beating Frankfurt 7-3 at Hampden Park in Glasgow. Alfredo Di Stéfano scored three and Ferenc Puskás four for the winners, though Richard Kress briefly put Frankfurt in front and Erwin Stein struck twice for the German side in the second half.
Celtic great Jimmy Johnstone watched the match and remembered: "It was like a fantasy staged in heaven. I had never seen football like it, nor would I ever again. I'll recite the names of that Madrid forward line till the day I die."
When is the UEFA Super Cup?
The UEFA Super Cup will kick off at 21:00 CET on Wednesday 10 August 2022.
Where is the UEFA Super Cup being played?
The 2022 UEFA Super Cup will be played at the at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium. The match will be the first UEFA club competition final to be held in Finland, though it previously staged the final of the 2009 UEFA Women's EURO.
This venue will be the tenth to stage the UEFA Super Cup since the fixture switched from its long-term home of Monaco, after Prague (2013), Cardiff (2014), Tbilisi (2015), Trondheim (2016), Skopje (2017), Tallinn (2018), Istanbul (2019), Budapest (2020) and Belfast (2021).
UEFA Super Cup tickets
All tickets for the general public for the match have now been sold. Tickets went on sale on 19 July exclusively via UEFA.com on a first come, first served basis. Click here for more details.
Where can I watch the UEFA Super Cup
Fans can find their local UEFA Champions League broadcast partner(s) here
Who is the referee?
England's Michael Oliver has been appointed by the UEFA Referees Committee to oversee the match. The 37-year-old official has been an international referee since 2012, and officiates regularly at UEFA club competition and international matches. He took charge of three games at UEFA EURO 2020.
What is Semi-Automated Offside Technology?
Semi-Automated Offside Technology (SAOT) will premiere in European club competitions at the UEFA Super Cup. The new system will operate thanks to specialised cameras which are able to track 29 different body points per player.
"This innovative system will allow VAR teams to determine offside situations quickly and more accurately, enhancing the flow of the game and the consistency of the decisions," said UEFA chief refereeing officer Roberto Rosetti.
What is the stadium like?
As the name suggests, the stadium was built to host the Olympics that eventually took place in 1952, and it underwent major renovations from 2016 to 2020. Its distinct tower stands at 72.71m – the distance thrown by gold-medal winning Matti Järvinen in the javelin at the 1932 Olympics.
The arena is also home to Finland's national football team. The side are known as the Eagle Owls in honour of a bird, Bubi, which took up residence in the stadium and delayed a UEFA EURO 2008 qualifier against Belgium when it perched on a crossbar. It subsequently relocated following a rock concert.
What is the UEFA Super Cup?
An annual fixture contested by the reigning champions of the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League, devised by Dutch reporter Anton Witkamp to decide definitively the top club side in Europe.
Finnish UEFA Super Cup winners
Jari Litmanen Ajax 1995, Liverpool 2001 (unused sub)
Sami Hyypiä Liverpool 2001 & 2005
The European Cup/UEFA Champions League holders have always been involved, facing the holders of either the European/UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (1973–99) or the UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League (2000–).
Do this year's teams have UEFA Super Cup pedigree?
This will be Frankfurt's first UEFA Super Cup appearance; when they won the UEFA Cup in 1980, it was the European Cup Winners' Cup holders who took on the European Cup winners for the Super Cup.
Real Madrid are making their eighth appearance in the Super Cup, having qualified as European champions on every occasion.
How many UEFA Super Cups have Real Madrid won?
They have recorded four wins and three defeats in their seven previous matches:
1998: L0-1 vs Chelsea (Monaco)
2000: L1-2 aet, golden goal vs Galatasaray (Monaco)
2002: W3-1 vs Feyenoord (Monaco)
2014: W2-0 vs Sevilla (Cardiff)
2016: W3-2aet vs Sevilla (Trondheim)
2017: W2-1 vs Manchester United (Skopje)
2018: L2-4 aet vs Atlético (Tallinn)
Do the European champions usually win?
UEFA Champions League winners Chelsea lifted the trophy in 2021, but this pattern does not always apply. The European Cup/UEFA Champions League holders have won 26 of the 46 editions. Find a full rundown of UEFA Super Cup records and statistics here.