HappilySpread: Barcelona - Sevilla Preview: Rakitic confident of Super Cup success

The Croatian midfielder feels his side are in good shape as they look to kick off the season with victory against their Spanish rivals

Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic is full of confidence that his side can claim the next trophy of a possible sextuple when they face Sevilla in Tuesday's Uefa Super Cup in Tbilisi.
Spain's strength in European club football was underlined by the respective successes of Barca and Sevilla in the Champions League and Europa League finals at the end of last season.
Sevilla defended their title with a 3-2 victory over Dnipro, while Barca completed the treble thanks to their 3-1 triumph over Juventus.
Barca have recent experience of glory on this occasion, with victories in 2011 and 2009, although they were defeated 3-0 by Sevilla in the 2006 showpiece.
And Rakitic, who moved to Camp Nou from Sevilla in 2014, believes the Catalan giants can enjoy a repeat of 2009, when they lifted six trophies.
"Nobody wants to do that more than we do," he said. "But we have to take things each step at a time. And the first chance is on Tuesday in Tbilisi.
"We are confident in ourselves and in our strengths. We'll work even harder than we did last year. But we know that there will be hard times this season too.
"We've got a strong team and I just try to be myself. I like taking on responsibilities, as I have done at all the clubs I've played for. My role won't change because Xavi has gone. I am Rakitic and I have my own virtues."
Barca will be without Neymar, who has been diagnosed with mumps, while Adriano, Douglas, and Jordi Alba are all injured.
Sevilla's Michael Krohn-Dehli, a fresh arrival from Celta Vigo in the off-season, concedes his side are underdogs, and that Tuesday's clash may come too soon for all the new signings to gel.
"Maybe yes, maybe no. We will find out after the game," he said.
"It's true that with so many new players we need a bit of time to adapt and get to know each other. In any case, we are ready to go out and play well and we want to win.
"Barca have won the league, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League. However, last season as a Celta player I was able to win at Camp Nou. In a game you always have a chance."

Opta Facts

Barcelona have four European Supercup titles; only AC Milan have won more in the competition history (five).
The Catalonians have won their last two European Supercup finals (2-0 v Porto 2011; 1-0 v Shaktar 2009). The last European Supercup final they lost was against Sevilla (0-3 2006)
Barcelona may be the first team to achieve three European Supercup final victories in a row since the competition has been a single match final (in 1998).
Sevilla have played three European Supercup finals (L2), winning the only one that they played against Barcelona (0-3 2006)
Sevilla may become the first team to win two European Supercup finals against Barcelona in the history of the competition.
Both teams will go level with Real Madrid with four European Supercup single match final appearances each.
Lionel Messi has scored 22 goals against Sevilla. He has only scored more goals in his career against Atletico de Madrid (23).
Unai Emery has never been able to defeat FC Barcelona as a manager (D6 L13)