Guardiola proved he is a magnificent leader

Pep Guardiola displayed magnificent leadership qualities as Bayern Munich beat Chelsea to the Uefa Super Cup, according to sporting director Matthias Sammer. A dramatic match in Prague was eventually settled by Romelu Lukaku’s miss in the penalty shoot-out after an equaliser from Javi Martinez had levelled the score at 2-2 with the final kick of extra-time. 

 Sammer was thrilled to see his side get over the line when defeat had looked almost certain to seal the club’s first-ever Uefa Super Cup triumph and he paid tribute to Guardiola for delivering the silverware. He said: “Congratulations to Pep Guardiola! He was magnificent before the match and at half-time. He was a leader for his team and did a fantastic job.

 The win on penalties secured an element of revenge over Chelsea after their win over Bayern in the Champions League final in 2012 by the same method and Manuel Neuer believes it represents an important mental step. “Fortunately, we managed to win the penalty shoot-out this time. It was very important for psychological reasons,” said the goalkeeper. “The penalties before my save were superbly taken, ours included – I'd have been delighted to see the same thing in the Champions League final two years ago.” Talking about his save from Lukaku’s spot-kick, Neuer added: “What can you do as a goalkeeper? You simply try to react to the taker’s run up – and I chose to dive to the left." Bayern return to Bundesliga business after the international break with a home game against Hannover on September 14.

The best team clearly lost – Mourinho

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has lamented his side’s 5-4 defeat to Bayern Munich on penalties in the European Super Cup. Franck Ribery cancelled out Fernando Torres's opener to take the game to extra time, before Javi Martinez did the same after Eden Hazard had give then Blues a lead for the second time and Ramires had been sent off. That left penalties to decide the winner, with Romelu Lukaku missing the decisive spot-kick after David Alaba, Toni Kroos, Philipp Lahm, Franck Ribery and Xherdan Shaqiri all beat Petr Cech from 12 yards. “The best team clearly lost,” Mourinho said after the match. “The best team played with 10 men for a long, long period in the game. They played against the champions of Europe and they were the best team. “We only have reasons to be proud, to believe in the future. But I prefer just to say the best team lost and stay with it.” This was Chelsea's second Super Cup defeat in as many years, having lost 4-1 to Atletico Madrid a year ago.