The UEFA Super Cup has long become a pleasant tradition for all European football.
The confrontation between the current owners of the Europa League and the Champions League de jure closes the previous season, and de facto opens a new one.
This time, Chelsea and Villarreal contested the trophy in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Londoners got the chance to win the Super Bowl for the fifth time in history.
At the same time, only one victory was listed in their asset so far.
In 1998, Gianluca Vialli's wards defeated Real Madrid with a minimum score.
This was followed by three defeats.
In 2012, the Blues lost to Atlético (1: 4), a year later - to Bayern in the penalty shootout, and in 2019 - to Liverpool also in the lottery.
In turn, Villarreal have never taken part in this tournament before, as they have not won European cups.
However, given the success of the ex-mentor of "Spartak" Unai Emery in the LE, the club could well count on luck in Northern Ireland.
Russian fans, however, could well support Sergei Karasev in this confrontation.
The domestic judge at a high level worked out three meetings of Euro 2020 and received another responsible appointment.
In terms of line-ups, it would be very interesting to see Romela Lukaku wearing a Chelsea shirt, but the current Champions League winners did not have time to complete the purchase of the striker from Inter.
And some of the leaders Thomas Tuchel decided to keep.
So, Jorginho, Mason Mount and Cesar Azpilicueta remained on the bench.
But Callum Hudson-Odoi, Trevo Chalobah and Hakim Ziyech were in the start.
The opponent also had losses.
Due to injuries, Dani Parejo, Francis Coquelin and Samuel Chukwese were left out of the application.
There was no place on the bench for 20-year-old ex-Lokomotiv midfielder Nikita Iosifov, who moved to Spain in July.
From the very first minutes it became clear in what way the match would take place.
Chelsea took control of the ball and Villarreal sank low to their own box without even trying to put pressure on.
It was especially hot at the gates of the current LE holder in the first minutes.
The opponent actively attacked both with the left flank, where Marcos Alonso regularly connected ahead, and with the right, where Hudson-Odoi was located.
The first dangerous moment was not long in coming.
After a corner kick, Timo Werner managed to shoot from close range, but Sergio Asenjo showed miracles of reaction.
Soon N'Golo Kante scored a slightly inaccurate shot into the far corner from outside the penalty area.
Villarreal then managed to calm the game down a bit, but it was just a short stretch.
Soon, Chelsea overwhelmed the opponent again.
By the middle of the first half, the team's possession had passed the 70% mark, and as a result, by the half-time, it was 66%.
True, for the time being, it didn’t come to blows very often.
The Londoners were looking for free space at the edges, but practically did not penetrate into someone else's penalty area.
Nevertheless, in the 27th minute, they managed to open an account absolutely naturally.
And again, the Spanish team did not keep Alonso on the left flank.
Werner did not have time to close the cross of his partner, but Ziyech, who was running at the second pace, shot the target.
Alfonso Pedraza frankly missed his connection.
Having scored, the blue gave the initiative to the opponent.
It looked like a completely logical step for them, because Thomas Tuchel's wards now had an excellent opportunity to organize counterattacks.
Only Villarreal started to create chances.
Very quickly, the newcomer of the team Bulaye Dia almost scored, who, after the penetrating pass of Juan Foyt, went almost one-on-one with Eduard Mendy, but shot straight into the Senegalese who had cut the distance in time.
And already in time compensated by the referee, Alberto Moreno missed an excellent chance.
After filing from the flank, the midfielder struck the rally from the goalkeeper's line, but hit the crossbar.
Meanwhile, Chelsea were left without a ball-scorer.
Ziyech almost out of the blue injured his arm and was forced to give way to Christian Pulisic.
As for Karasev, he came to the fore shortly before the break, when he showed two yellow cards one after the other: first to Antonio Rüdiger for a dangerous game, and then to Tuchel for disagreeing with the referee's decision.
In the second half, Villarreal continued to destroy 100% chances.
In the 52nd minute, the almost imperceptible Gerard Moreno missed a great chance to excel.
However, Mendy started the attack of the opponent with an unsuccessful clearance.
He slipped, knocking the ball off the goal, and rolled it straight onto Dia.
He timely completed the transfer to Moreno, who struck the bottom into the far corner, but hit the post.
And the replay showed that Edward still touched the shell with his fingertips and saved the team.
Chelsea's game was absolutely not going well in the future.
Many mistakes were made in the support zone by Mateo Kovacic, whom Kante did not always have time to insure.
Pulisic did not succeed at all.
Finally, inexplicable mistakes were made by the defenders, in particular Chalob.
Sensing this, Emery decided to increase the pressure on his flank and threw Purvis Estupignan into the battle.
Tuchel soon responded with his triple castling.
The German replaced Jorginho, Mason Mount and Andreas Christensen.
Thus, he refreshed all the lines of the team, which looked clearly tired.
Emery soon also "poured fresh blood", releasing Mario Gaspar and Moi Gomez.
In the end, Villarreal's pressure paid off.
In the 73rd minute, the Spanish team made an interception in the opponent's half of the field and immediately carried out an effective attack.
Moreno made an excellent pass into the box for Dia.
The newcomer got ahead of the opponent and made an allowance with his heel on Gerard, who calmly sent the ball under the crossbar.
Only after that the Londoners woke up and became more active, but there was no time to snatch victory in regulation time, and the players of both teams did not seek to take unnecessary risks.
Thus, the match for the UEFA Super Cup went into extra time for the fourth time in a row.
It continued in the same vein as the ending of the second half.
Chelsea had the advantage and attacked.
Unsurprisingly, it was the blue who created the dangerous moment.
Pulisic, thanks to a series of ricochets, found himself with the ball almost into someone else's goalkeeper's room, but missed a little into the far corner.
Then, the substitute, Azpilicueta, fell in the penalty area after contact with Estupinyan, but Karasev only threw his hands to the sides, showing that there was no violation of the rules.
In the second extra-half, the Blues missed another chance.
Mount, after an unsuccessful handling of Pau Torres, struck from 15 meters, but Asenho pulled the ball out of the near corner.
But on the whole, the opponents showed their readiness for a penalty shootout.
And Tuchel, shortly before the referee's whistle, made a replacement for goalkeepers specifically for the "lottery": Kepa Arrisabalaga took Mendy's place at the last line.
But Emery did not use the help of Jeronimo Ruli, who pulled the team's streak in the final of the LE with Manchester United and made a decisive attempt.
For Chelsea, the lottery did not start well.
Asenho took the first hit of the opponent from the "point", not allowing Havertz to excel.
Moreover, he almost parried the shot of the experienced Azpilicueta.
However, at Villarreal, a mistake was quickly made by the substitute Mandy, who was unable to beat the fresh Arrisabalaga.
In the future, the players did not miss, but the Londoners' players performed their attempts more and more confidently.
The first series was not enough for the teams this time, but it didn’t come to the kicks of the goalkeepers either.
The decisive was the misfire of Raul Albiol.
The 35-year-old defender sent the shell to the left corner at a comfortable height, and Kepa again saved the team and helped them win the trophy.
Thus, Londoners took the UEFA Super Cup in a penalty shootout only on the third attempt, and at the same time avenged Manchester United. The main character was the reserve goalkeeper Arrisabalaga, who was unexpectedly thrown into the battle instead of Mendy. Tuchel's risk was fully justified, and following the Champions League he won the UEFA Super Cup with Chelsea.