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2023 UEFA Super Cup

The 2023 UEFA Super Cup was the 48th edition of the UEFA Super Cup, an annual football match organised by UEFA and contested by the reigning champions of the top two European club competitions, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League. The match featured English club Manchester City, winners of the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League, and Spanish club Sevilla, winners of the 2022–23 UEFA Europa League. It was played at the Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus, Greece, on 16 August 2023.

The match was originally scheduled to be played at the Ak Bars Arena in Kazan, Russia. However, due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, it was moved on 25 January 2023 to Piraeus.

Manchester City won the match 5–4 on penalties following a 1–1 draw after 90 minutes for their first UEFA Super Cup title.

Teams

Venue

Original host selection

The Ak Bars Arena in Kazan, Russia, was originally selected as the final host by the UEFA Executive Committee during their meeting in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on 2 March 2020. The Albanian Football Association also had bid for the match to be hosted in Tirana, but withdrew the candidature prior to the vote.

The match would have been the first UEFA Super Cup to be held in Russia, and the second UEFA club competition final to be held in the city after the 2009 UEFA Women's Cup final. The stadium was previously a venue for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup, where it hosted three group stage matches and a semi-final, and the 2018 FIFA World Cup, where it hosted four group stage matches, a round of 16 fixture and a quarter-final.

Ak Bars Arena was selected by the UEFA Executive Committee during their meeting on 2 March 2020.

Relocation to Piraeus

After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, it was uncertain whether the match would be played in Kazan. Russia was suspended from UEFA and FIFA competitions in February 2022, and the 2022 UEFA Champions League final, scheduled to take place in Saint Petersburg, was also relocated to Paris. Tatarstan officials had called for UEFA to keep the competition in Kazan.

In December 2022, Greek Football Federation to proposal to move the match to Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium, Thessaloniki, Greece instead Kazan. Central Macedonia officials had called for UEFA to move the match to Thessaloniki. On 25 January 2023, the UEFA Executive Committee stripped Kazan of hosting rights and relocated the match to the Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus, Greece. This would be the second time a UEFA club competition final is hosted at the Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus after the 1971 European Cup Winners' Cup final. Prior to the relocation, Greece had been selected as one of the hosts for the 2024 UEFA Europa Conference League final at Agia Sophia Stadium, Athens.

Pre-match

Officials

On 14 August 2023, UEFA named French official François Letexier as the referee for the match. Letexier had been a FIFA referee since 2017 and previously worked as one of the assistant video assistant referees for the 2019 UEFA Super Cup. He was accompanied by fellow countrymen Cyril Mugnier and Mehdi Rahmouni as assistant referees, while Espen Eskås of Norway served as the fourth official. Compatriot Jérôme Brisard was selected as the video assistant referee (VAR), with fellow countrymen Eric Wattellier and Fedayi San of Switzerland serving as the assistant VAR officials.

Match

Summary

Manchester City came close to opening the scoring in the 8th minute after a header from Nathan Aké was saved by Yassine Bounou. Jack Grealish also had an effort from outside the penalty area saved by Bounou in the 17th minute. In the 25th minute, Sevilla took the lead after a cross into the penalty area by Marcos Acuña found its way on to the head of Youssef En-Nesyri, who managed to head the ball into the bottom left-hand corner of the net. In the second half, En-Nesyri was put through on goal by Lucas Ocampos before his resulting effort was saved by Ederson. Cole Palmer made it 1–1 in the 63rd minute after heading the ball past Bounou via a cross in by Rodri. In the 64th minute, En-Nesyri was put through on goal again by Ocampos but was again denied by Ederson. Palmer also had a curling effort saved by Bounou in the 69th minute. Constant pressure from City eventually lead to Aké having a header end up being tipped over by Bounou. The match finished 1–1 after 90 minutes and so went to a penalty shoot-out. With both teams scoring their first four penalties, City captain Kyle Walker scored their fifth penalty before Nemanja Gudelj missed the crucial penalty for Sevilla by hitting the crossbar which meant Manchester City won the Super Cup 5–4 on penalties.