The season’s curtain-raiser in England, the Community Shield, this year will be played at Villa Park since Wembley Stadium will be hosting the Olympic Games football tournament final.
Tomorrow’s clash between Premier League champions Manchester City and FA Cup holders Chelsea can be dubbed as a direct confrontation between two Italian coaches – Roberto Mancini and Roberto di Matteo – in the battle of the Blues.
Chelsea, Europe’s number one club at the moment for their win in the Champions League final against Bayern Munich in May, last figured in the Community Shield in 2010, going down to Manchester United, then league champions.
In the last 15 seasons, the Community Shield saw the participation of a club from the north or the south and the trend continues this year. This underlines the supremacy the sides in these areas hold in the English game.
The last ‘outsiders’ were Newcastle in 1996 when they were present in the ‘Shield’ along with Manchester United.
2011 Man. United-Man City 3-2
2010 Man. United-Chelsea 3-1
2009 Chelsea-Man. United 2-2
(Chelsea win on penalties)
2008 Man. United-Portsmouth 0-0
(Man. United win on penalties)
2007 Man. United-Chelsea 1-1
(Man. United win on penalties)
2006: Liverpool-Chelsea 2-1
2005 Chelsea-Arsenal 2-1
2004 Arsenal-Man. United 3-1
2003 Man. United-Arsenal 1-1
(Man. United win on penalties)
2002 Arsenal-Liverpool1-0
2001 Liverpool-Man. United 2-1
2000 Chelsea-Man. United 2-0
1999 Arsenal-Man. United 2-1
1998 Arsenal-Man. United 3-0
1997 Man. United-Chelsea 1-1
(Man. United win on penalties)
Last season, the Citizens went down to Man. United 2-3 (Lescott, Dzeko − Smalling, Nani 2) at Wembley.
The two sides had also met in the 1956 Charity Shield. United, as champions, won 1-0.
City suffered two other defeats in the curtain-raiser − to Arsenal in 1934 and to Leeds in 1969.
The Blues have won the honour three times.
Manchester City’s triumphs read:
1972 − beat Aston Villa 1-0.
1968 − beat West Brom 6-1.
1937 − beat Sunderland 2-0.
Chelsea’s victories read:
1955 – vs Newcastle 3-0.
2000 – vs Manchester United 2-0.
2005 – vs Arsenal 2-1.
2009 − vs Manchester United on pens.
Chelsea had also been on the losing end:
1970 – 1-2 to Everton.
1997 – lost to Man. United on pens.
2006 – 1-2 to Liverpool.
2007 − lost to Man. United on pens.
2010 − 1-3 to Manchester United.
In the English Premier League last season, Chelsea emerged triumphant 2-1 (Meireless, Lampard pen − Balotelli) at home but in the return match at Eastlands, the Citizens won 2-1 (Aguero pen, Nasri − Cahill).
While Mancini is still mulling on any additions, if any, to his resourceful squad this summer, Di Matteo has already spent 64 million pounds to bring the likes of Oscar, Eden Hazard and Marko Marin at Stamford Bridge.