Good evening and welcome to the Super Cup final between Chelsea and Villarreal!

Villarreal win a corner down the left and Rudiger gets first contact but can only divert the ball square for Albiol ... who totally misses his kick, and everyone laughs.

Villarreal are struggling to get out, and when Torres partially clears, Gerard Moreno tarries in possession, allowing Kante to scuttle in to rob him. He takes a touch, then from 20 yards absolutely leathers a low drive just wide of the near post.

The corner comes in and various defenders miss it, Werner then poking a toe around Albiol ... and Aensjo has to palm away!

Chelsea are hitting a groove, Rudiger playing a lovely pass inside Albiol and Alonso dashes onto it, easing Pina out of the road. His low cross is a goodun too, but Pedraza is on-hand to stick it behind.

Yup, Chelsea knock it about as Villarrreal sit back so Kovacic drives a diag out for Hudson-Odoi, who does really well to catch up with it, on the stretch. But Torres is there to intercept.

Apparently it was lashing down in Belfast this morning, but it's pleasant now, and looks a really nice night for football.

Kovacic gives it away between centre-circle and penalty box, but Dia doesn't see Albert Moreno streaking on his outside, and Kante clears up.

I'm not expecting many goals here - both sides have problems scoring, but both defend well. I imagine Chelsea will dominate the ball, and Villarreal will sit deep.

Away we go!

The Chelsea players take the knee and some racists in the crowd disapprove.

Kante leads Chelsea out carrying old big ears, and Albiol does likewise with Villarreal and old big vase.

And here come the refs....

The players are almost with us - currently, Rio Ferdinand is leading out the mascots, who are uniting against hate.

I'm absolutely certain this is so.

Villarreal, meanwhile, are at home to Granada, which is a pretty friendly start to proceedings. They'll be fancying themselves for a top four finish, and they're definitely capable.

Chelsea are at home to Palace at the weekend, which should be an interesting one - Palace have invested in youth, and will likely be the fitter, faster side, so don't be surprised if they make that a proper contest.

I wonder if Tuchel intends to stick with his 3-4-3. It makes Chelsea hard to penetrate, but it also makes it hard for them to dominate against a serious side, because they're outnumbered in midfield and out wide. But for now, that's what's what.

Tuchel says he demands that all matches be taken seriously as do his players. He thought hard about who to pick, but decided to do the same as in the friendly against Spurs, as he was happy with the first hour. He's not winding himself up with this one plays an hour and that one plays half an hour - his starting XI is good to go 90, and he'll take it from there. He notes that Villarreal are the underdogs, the role Chelsea took in the Champions League, but they beat Man United in the Europa final and nothing else needs saying - if anyone in the dressing room thinks this is going to be easy, he'll be surprised and angry.