After giving life to one of the most exciting FA Trophy finals in recent years, Valletta and Balzan will again battle each other for the first major piece of silverware when they face each other in the BOV Super Cup final at the National Stadium (kick-off: 3pm).

Just six months have passed since that enthralling FA Trophy final which saw Balzan and Valletta involved in an eight-goal thriller that was finally decided by a penalty shoot-out which saw Alfred Effiong converting the winning spot-kick to earn the Reds their first-ever major title.

This is the second successive year that Balzan and Valletta are meeting in the Super Cup final. 

Last year, it was the Citizens who prevailed by the odd goal in three for a record 12th overall success.

For both Valletta and Balzan, today’s Super Cup final can turn out to be a perfect opportunity to kickstart what has been so far an underwhelming start to the season.

Valletta, the Malta champions, have struggled for much of the first few months of the Premier League campaign as they fell behind in this season’s title race.

But in the last few weeks, the Citizens seem to be finally rediscovering their touch as five wins in their last seven outings has put them back in the hunt of a record-equalling 25th league title.

Darren Abdilla, the Valletta coach, is looking at today’s final with a lot of optimism given his team’s encouraging signs of late.

“For a club like Valletta every trophy is fundamental as winning silverware enables you to rewrite the club’s history books,” Abdilla told the Times of Malta yesterday.

“We are looking at tomorrow’s final with a lot of optimism especially when one looks at the form shown by the team in recent weeks. 

“The team is coming from five wins from the last seven matches and has also managed four clean sheets. Hopefully, we can build on that and a win against Balzan would be a huge shot in the arm for our season.

“However, it will not be easy as Balzan themselves have also a lot to play for and are keen on rejuvenating their season. So it’s going to be a tough match but we’re blessed to have a team full of players who have a lot of experience in these kind of matches so hopefully we can deliver again.”

Abdilla can bank on a full squad for today’s final as Argentine midfielder Santiago Malano has now recovered from a long-term knee injury and has returned to full training with the senior squad.

Jacques Scerri, the Balzan coach, is looking forward to today’s final against Valletta and is relishing the chance of guiding his charges to another major trophy. 

“The memories are still fresh in our minds of seven months ago when we managed to bring the first major trophy to our club and we are certainly looking forward to relive those emotions after the Super Cup final on Saturday,” he said.

“For us this final is another opportunity to continue building on the success achieved last season but we are aware that it’s not going to be simple. We are going to face the champions Valletta who are a very strong side and we’re expecting a very difficult challenge. 

“Hopefully, it will be a match that will provide a lot of emotions and give a huge boost to the image of Maltese football.”

Asked whether the fact that his players have already managed to beat Valletta for their first major honour could prove a major psychological advantage for his team, Scerri said: “I think the fact that we managed to break our taboo in finals when defeating Valletta in last year’s FA Trophy could be more than anything a major mental boost for our players.

“But in these finals, what happened in the past has relative importance. It’s how you perform on the day that matters most. 

“So my job as coach is to ensure that the players arrive for the match in the best possible shape to produce to hopefully steer the team to another success.” 

LAST 10 FINALS

2009 Hibernians vs Sliema W. 0-1
2010 Birkirkara vs Valletta  2-3
(after extra-time)
2011 Valletta vs Floriana 3-0
2012 Valletta vs Hibernians 3-1
2013 Birkirkara vs Hibernians 3-2
2014 Valletta vs Birkirkara 1-2
2015 Hibernians vs Birkirkara 2-1
2016 Valletta vs Sliema W. 2-1
2017 Hibernians vs Floriana 0-1
2018 Valletta vs Balzan 2-1