If the 2015-16 Bundesliga season, which kicks off on Aug. 14, is the main course of German soccer then think of the Supercup as the appetizer.
Saturday’s game pits last season’s Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich against the reigning German Cup holders Wolfsburg. Wolfsburg also finished runners-up in the Bundesliga and hammered Bayern 4-1 during the second half of last season, making this Supercup clash all the more enticing.
Here’s what you need to know about Saturday match at Wolfsburg’s Volkswagen Arena.
Saturday programming alert: Watch Wolfsburg vs. Bayern Munich on Sportsnet World at 2:30 pm ET. || Sportsnet NOW || Broadcast schedule
A quick history lesson
The German FA (DFB) staged the first Supercup in 1987 when league champions Bayern Munich beat Cup winners Hamburger in Frankfurt to lift the inaugural trophy.
The Supercup took a hiatus after the 1996 game (won by Borussia Dortmund) before returning in 2010, with the game organized by the DFL, a subsidiary of the league association.
Bayern beat league runners-up Schalke in 2010. Borussia Dortmund lost back-to-back games to Schalke and Bayern in 2011 and 2012, but won the last two with victories over Bayern.
Let’s go to the video replay
For the first time this season the Bundesliga will be using goal-line technology. The Supercup will be the first game where Hawk-Eye system will be used.
1-on-1: De Bruyne vs. Mueller
Belgian Kevin de Bruyne was a major reason why Wolfsburg finished second in the Bundesliga last season, scoring 10 goals and adding 20 assists in 34 league appearances. German World Cup hero Thomas Muller was nearly as influential for Bayern with 13 goals and 10 assists in 31 games.
Here’s how the two Bundesliga stars matched up last season.
Graphic courtesy of @Bundesliga_de
Quick facts
• Bayern is set to compete in its ninth Supercup, the most appearances by any team in the history of the game.
• This will be Wolfsburg’s first Supercup appearance, making it the 12th different participant.
• Borussia Dortmund has won the most Supercups with five.
• In past years when one team won both the Bundesliga and German Cup, the second-place team in the league was chosen to compete in the Supercup.
• Since 2011 when the German Cup winners/ Bundesliga runners-up have hosted the game, the home side has gone on to lift the trophy every time.
• There have been 49 goals so far in 15 Supercups—an average of 3.3 per game.
• Three of the 15 finals have been decided by a penalty shootout. (If Saturday’s game is tied after 90 minutes, they’ll skip extra time and go straight to penalties).
• The Supercup trophy stands 53 centimetres tall and weighs just over six kilograms.
0-3 for Pep?
Manager Pep Guardiola is in his third and possibly final season with Bayern Munich (his contract is up at the end of the campaign), and this could be his last opportunity to add a German Supercup trophy to his already impressive resume.
Bayern lost the past two German Supercups to Borussia Dortmund, and Saturday could allow Bayern to exact a bit of revenge after being hammered 4-1 by Wolfsburg in January.
“It’s a big title for me and Wolfsburg is a big rival,” Guardiola, said
Who’s missing
Bayern will be without a number of injured stars including winger Franck Ribery and defenders Holger Badstuber, Dante and Jan Kirchhoff, and midfielder Javi Martinez.
Arjen Robben could return after a muscle injury, and Chilean midfielder Arturo Vidal (the club’s biggest off-season purchase, from Juventus) could make his debut.
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