On Saturday evening, the first title of the new season is at stake. Bayer Leverkusen and VfB Stuttgart also have a few million euros in store.
Leverkusen against Stuttgart. Last season, this meant pure spectacle. Both Bundesliga duels (1:1 and 2:2) as well as the DFB Cup quarter-final (3:2 for Leverkusen) developed into a pure football show full of offensive power.
Now the two clubs will meet again in the first competitive match. Double winners Leverkusen were already set to win. Thanks to the Werkself’s cup win, VfB slipped into runner-up position.
For the first time since 2011 (when BVB played against Schalke), FC Bayern is not taking part in the Supercup.
For the two finalists, the appearance is also financially worthwhile. Last year, the DFL paid out 3.5 million euros to the winner, RB Leipzig, and 2.5 million euros to FC Bayern. The split in 2024 will probably be similar.
The “Zeitungsverlag Waiblingen” reports that the DFL will probably donate a total of five million euros, with three million euros going to the winner and two to the loser of the Supercup. This has not been officially confirmed.
Together with the Champions League and TV revenues from the coming season, this is a nice financial boost for both clubs.
Trouble over scheduling in Leverkusen
There had been some trouble beforehand about the scheduling of the match.
The Swabians would have liked to play the game in their home stadium, the MHPArena. According to a report by “Sport Bild”, Stuttgart’s CEO Alexander Wehrle made this clear to the DFL (and also to Bayer) before the cup final.
But: The Supercup duel between VfB and Werkself will not take place on Saturday (8:30 p.m. in the live ticker) on the Neckar, but in the BayArena. There would have been room for more than 60,000 people in the MHPArena, while in Leverkusen only half of that number fits in the stadium.
Supercup 2024: Ultras not present
“The decision of the DFL executive committee not to hold the Supercup in one of the most modern stadiums in Germany with twice the capacity of 60,000 seats and thus make this competition accessible to more football fans is, in our view, incomprehensible,” the VfB boss was quoted as saying on the club’s website.
The active fan scenes of both teams will also boycott the game. They criticize the lack of sporting excitement and the additional English week that the Supercup creates for the clubs.
Source: www.sport.de
