Super Cup: a night to remember in Belfast as Chelsea beat Villarreal in dramatic shoot-out
Last updated 12th Aug 2021
A sea of blue and yellow filled Windsor Park last night (Wednesday) as Belfast played host to a remarkable sporting spectacle.
Some 13,000 fans, many travelling from Spain and London, poured into the National Stadium to see Chelsea take on Villarreal in the Super Cup - the traditional curtain raiser for the new European club competition season.
And the game did not disappoint.
With the score 1-1 after extra-time, the supporters were treated to a dramatic penalty shoot-out - Chelsea eventually winning 6-5.
Chelsea keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga was the hero of the night.
He came off the bench in extra-time to save two spot-kicks and send the Chelsea fans home happy.
Boss Thomas Tuchel explained why he made the keeper swap at what was a crucial period, particularly with regular stopper Edouard Mendy having enjoyed a decent night between the posts.
"Since I arrived we have an unbelievable amount and quality of support in the structure of the club and this is one good example,'' he said.
"In my first cup game (as Chelsea boss) against Barnsley we had talks with the goalkeeper coaches and the analysing department, who came up with a statistic that Willy Cabellero was the best in penalty defending.
"They analysed thousands of penalties from Willy, then second-best was Kepa and third-best was Edouard in this statistic.
"So we spoke to all three of the goalkeepers very openly that it can be that when we have a situation like this and we have a change left, then we take the change.
"Not for personal reasons but to help the team, to improve the chances because we had this proof of statistics.
"Willy is not there any more but the three accepted it in a fantastic manner, it showed all the spirit that this team trains and lives together and they said this is absolutely no problem.
"You see today, Mendy puts his ego to the side when we take this decision and he was aware - I think that is key, he is aware why we do this.
"It is not a sudden idea of the manager on the sideline. This was planned and openly discussed with the goalkeepers and I'm very happy they showed this type of team spirit and it was fine to take this one to the team.''