Indian Football League

Match 31: BFC vs. ATKMB

Preview

The Indian Classico is here but the craze or the buzz surrounding the match is almost dead. While Mohun Bagan blames Sanjeev Goenka for it but its Indian football that’s at loss. When it comes to performance, both these teams have failed to impress their fans. The green and maroon brigade started their campaign as one of the favourites to win the title but the finalist of the last season are currently at 6th position with just 7 points from five matches. One of their biggest rivals in modern history, Bengaluru registered just 4 points from their 6 matches and is at 9th in the table. Thus, without a shadow of a doubt, this match is very important for both these teams to stay relevant in the league.

Like we always say, without Sandesh Jhingan, the defense is looking awful. The club did sign Deepak Tangri but he isn’t mature enough to keep the defense intact. Even though Pritam Kotal is a defender and is captaining the side and also playing brilliant football, by the looks of it, the team needs a leader at the moment. Something Kotal is not offering. Hugo Boumous also looks off colour. Whether Coach Antonio Lopez Habas is not able to utilize him properly or not is to be seen but his impact is nowhere to be seen.

Their opponent Bengaluru has also not been in their best shape. The blues failed to win any of their last five matches. Sunil Chhetri hasn’t been in his regular form but Habas believes his form won’t matter much as it’s the team that Mohun Bagan will compete against. “You know my idea of football. Bengaluru is not a team absolutely dependent on Chhetri. Football is a quality and a team sport, and I don’t think that because of one player, say the likes of Krishna or Chhetri, the team game should get affected.”

Speaking about the defense of his team, the coach said, “The plan to not concede goals can only be implemented when you have a good defense which defends all the time and not just with the ball, but sometimes we might lose the ball immediately and we have to recover quickly in those situations. If we have the ball in the same position as the opponent, maybe the opponent has no option to score”.

The multiple times winning coach Habas is also hopeful about the future. Dragging an example of Chennai the coach said, “There are many points in the games left. We had too much on our way, but we have the possibility of winning games by recovering the situation. I remember Chennai in the 2019-20 season where they lost seven matches and after that won the decisive games and played the final against us. You have to continue to improve, recover, and improve, but it’s not a catastrophic situation when you lose two matches. Football is not like this, it is an extensive career where one time, you lose three matches and in the next three, you win those matches. So, it’s one thing for another thing”.

Bengaluru has just not been good enough. Ever since Miku left, the club couldn’t replace him with anyone who’s good enough. The club shouldn’t expect Sunil Chhetri to win them games at 37-years old. The owner Parth Jindal promised a new Bengaluru team this season but nothing has changed. The team hasn’t gone any better and it is going to be a tough time for the Blues this season. Even after so many setbacks, the coach is hopeful for a better future. He however is cautious before facing the green and maroon brigade. “The players are very motivated. I don’t think that is an issue. We deserve to have more points than we have right now. That's where we are unhappy. Not with the building up of the performance. But how are we getting the goals? That's all we talk about. It means the team needs to step up one step higher. It's not easy against an opponent like Mohun Bagan, but we need to. The more experienced players need to step up and be vocal to guide the youngsters. Irrespective of who's injured, the available players need to take charge and bring the best out of each other”, he said in the press.

He added, “ATKMB are a quality team with Roy Krishna, Manvir Singh, Liston Colaco and others. They are very good on the counter and we need to make sure we're not caught out, to make sure the team is well organised for any attack”.

BFC vs. ATKMB Predicted Line Ups

BFC – Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (GK), Naorem Roshan Singh, Pratik Chaudhari, Alan Costa, Ashique Kuruniyan, Jayesh Rane, Bruno Ramires, Suresh Singh Wangjam, Prince Ibara, Cleiton Silva, Sunil Chhetri (c)

ATKMB - Amrinder Singh (GK); Pritam Kotal, Carl McHugh, Subashish Bose; Manvir Singh, Lenny Rodrigues, Deepak Tangri, Joni Kauko, Liston Colaco; Hugo Boumous, Roy Krishna (c)

Match Prediction

Mohun Bagan is the favourites to win the tie. Bengaluru has played some decent football but it is going to be tough for the Blues against the mighty Bagan. They have suffered against them in the past as well and expect some similar things.

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