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Bengaluru FC Media
Three weeks on the road, a season-ending injury to their talismanic captain and a last gasp penalty save to send them to the summit clash later, Bengaluru FC will look to bring home a title they won in 2015 when they take on rivals Mohun Bagan in a Federation Cup final scripted for the gallery, at the Barabati Stadium, in Cuttack, on Sunday.
The fixture marks the sixth meeting between the two rivals this season and could well be the most important one given the winners bag a spot in next season’s AFC Cup. “Sunday will be our second cup final in less than a year and it’s something we are proud to be part of. The team has shown immense character to make it to this stage and we are ready to give it one final push. I would say Bagan are the favourites with some big names on their roster and the availability of all four foreigners for this fixture. We have no problem being the underdogs,” said Roca while addressing the press on the eve of the game.
In what will be a vital miss for the Blues, midfielder Cameron Watson whose penalty sent Roca’s men to the final, won’t have any part to play in the big clash owing to a suspension. “Cameron has been an important player for us all season and his experience will be missed in the midfield. But like I’ve said before, we have enough quality on this squad and ability has never been a worry for me. Everyone on the squad knows what is at stake and I’m expecting them bring their best to the final.”
In Mohun Bagan, Bengaluru will be up against arguably one of the strongest strike forces in the country and the battle between a John Johnson-led defence and Darryl Duffy, Sony Norde and Balwant Singh will be key to how the final unfolds. “We back ourselves in defence as much as we do in attack and we’re all relishing the prospect of this clash. It’s been a tough three weeks on the road but it now all comes down to this one game and we will be giving it everything,” said Johnson who will, in all likelihood, pull on the captain’s armband.
Bengaluru’s road to the final wasn’t as smooth as Roca would have liked it to be but the Spaniard hopes his side finish things off on a high. The Blues beat Shillong Lajong 3-2 in the league-phase opener before suffering a shock 2-0 defeat to DSK Shivajians. Bengaluru then managed a 1-1 draw with Bagan which was enough to set up a semifinal clash against League champions Aizawl FC. Watson’s early penalty seemed enough to get the job done before Aizawl were awarded a penalty in the last minute of added time. But Amrinder Singh guessed correctly to keep the take out and hand Bengaluru a shot at the title.
“We’ve made it a little more difficult for ourselves than we would have liked to but that’s how football can be sometimes. What’s important is we showed character and tomorrow will be another test of it,” said Roca.
Bagan, in comparison, had it relatively easier, beating DSK 4-0, Lajong 3-2 and then handing arch rivals East Bengal a 2-0 defeat in the semifinal.
The game kicks off at 7 pm and will be beamed live on the Ten 2 network.
Bengaluru FC Media
In what will be a precursor of the Federation Cup final, a rested Bengaluru FC side will take on Mohun Bagan in a Group E game of the AFC Cup at the Rabindra Sarobar Stadium, in Kolkata, on Wednesday. While both Bengaluru and Maziya S&RC are level on points 9 points from 4 games, Albert Roca’s side continue to lead the group owing to a better head-to-head record over the team from the Maldives who host Abahani Dhaka Limited in the group’s earlier kick-off.
With the battle for who makes it out of the group set to go down to the last round where Bengaluru host Maziya on May 31, Roca chose to hand a fair number of players some much needed rest. “This will be our fifth game in 8 days and it’s a situation we have to manage. The heat in Cuttack has taken a lot out of the squad and it was only fair that some of the boys get time to recover before the final.Wednesday’s AFC Cup game is a great chance for the other boys on the squad who have been thorough professionals and have put their hand up whenever the team has needed them,” said Roca on the eve of the game.
While John Johnson and Harmanjot Khabra miss the fixture with suspensions, Cameron Watson hasn’t traveled after taking ill. Amrinder Singh and Juanan Gonzalez are among the other players who haven’t traveled. Skipper Sunil Chhetri has, meanwhile, made the trip back to Bengaluru to have his injury assessed by the club’s medical team.
Mohun Bagan are out of contention in the AFC Cup and given the Federation Cup final scheduled in four days from now, manager Sanjoy Sen too could hand his key players some much-needed rest.
“No matter what squad Mohun Bagan or we decide to go with, I have no illusions of this game being one where we can afford to take our foot off the pedal. The conditions will be tougher for us and I’m confident that the boys will make the most of the experience,” added Roca.
The Blues came back from a goal down to beat Bagan 2-1 in the home leg of this fixture and Roca has told his young side to draw inspiration from that night. “Bagan have always been tough competitors and both the clubs are always fighting for titles. The younger players on the team have a point to prove to me and I’m looking forward to a good show.”
The game kicks off at 7 pm.
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Bengaluru FC Media
Defending Hero Federation Cup Champions Mohun Bagan finished table toppers of Group B with seven points out of three matches, after playing out a 1-1 draw against Bengaluru FC in the ongoing 38th edition of the Hero Federation Cup in Cuttack, Odhisa today.
Both Mohun Bagan and Bengaluru FC qualified for the semi-final stage of the Tournament with the Blues finishing runners-up with four points out of three matches.
Alwyn George’s 12th-minute strike was cancelled by a 50th minute Sony Norde goal for Mohun Bagan as both Teams shared the points at the end of the match.
Bengaluru FC had to conjure a draw to progress to the semi-finals of the Hero Federation Cup and Alberto Roca’s team showed signs of taking the match by the scruff of the neck in the opening minutes itself. When the Blues took the lead in the 12th minute after Alwyn George cut in from the right flank and released a shot which beat Debjit Majumder on the near post and handed Bengaluru FC a solitary goal lead.
In the 30th minute, Katsumi Yusa’s header earned a reflex save from Amrinder Singh after the Japanese was found in the box by Jeje’s header, as Mohun Bagan pressed for the equaliser.
Despite Bagan dominating possession in the final third for the latter half of the first half, the Bengaluru FC defence kept out the trio of Jeje, Katsumi Yusa and Sony Norde, giving them no time at all to shoot. While Norde who usually dropped deep to collect the ball was out-muscled off possession by Bengaluru bodies in defence. The half-time scoreline read 1-0 in BFC’s favour.
In the 50th minute, Sony Norde found the back of the net after his shot from distance curled into Amrinder’s goal to level proceedings as Bagan kick-started the second half.
Bengaluru FC pressed to score again and Doungel’s shot in the 59th minute went inches over the bar minutes before Bengaluru FC were awarded a corner kick.
Playing cautiously after scoring, Mohun Bagan beefed up bodies in the midfield to counter the free-flowing attacks of Bengaluru FC. With a draw enough to get both Teams into the knock-out stage, both teams played the match cautiously, not over committing to attacks was a common sight. The full-time scoreline read 1-1 as both Teams progressed to the semi-final stage.
Bengaluru FC Media
In a fixture that’s never lacked intensity, Bengaluru FC will square off against Mohun Bagan for a third straight time as the I-League resumes after a fortnight-long international break, at the Rabindra Sarobar Stadium, in Kolkata, on Saturday.
While the Blues’ chances of retaining the League title are all but over, coach Albert Roca believes that the need to put in a good show ahead of an important AFC Cup tie against Maziya S&RC away from home in just three days from now and the prospect of coming up against Bengaluru’s arch rivals on the domestic stage should work as enough motivation for his boys to deliver.
“We are up against Mohun Bagan and that should tell you how important this game is for us. Also, while we may not be able to finish on top of the table, we need to climb as high as possible, on it. It’s going to be a very difficult game because Bagan know that if they drop points, their title aspirations will suffer a major dent too.”
Prior to the international break, Bengaluru faced the Sanjoy Sen-coached side on consecutive occasions, as a goalless draw in the League was followed by a comeback win for the Blues in the opening game of the 2017 AFC Cup. The Spaniard has called for his side, who are in fifth place, to be competitive if they are to take anything away from Kolkata this time around.
“We are the champions of India and we will be playing like that on Saturday. There is no point coming here if we aren’t going be competitive,” said Roca, while addressing the press on the eve of the game.
Bengaluru had as many as seven players away with the national team for the AFC Asian Cup qualifier against Myanmar and Roca said he still hasn’t decided the team that he will roll out against Bagan a side that sits in third place on the League table. “We play two important games in four days and I’m going to have to see how we handle this situation. What you can expect for certain is that the team that plays will be one that chases a win.”
Defender Rino Anto and goalkeeper Lalthuammawia Ralte miss out as they continue to recover from their injuries while Mohun Bagan are boosted by the presence of Sony Norde, who trained with the side following his return from international duty with Haiti at the CONCACAF Gold Cup qualifiers.
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Bengaluru FC Media
A pleasant evening at the Garden City witnessed the duel between winners of the last two editions of Hero I-League. Bengaluru FC despite playing with one-man advantage for good 30-minutes, failed to break Bagan defense the match ended in a 0-0 draw.
Also, it was a duel of sorts between the hundreds of Green and Maroon fans who travelled across the country and the home grown Blues’ supporters who flocked to the fortress to see their team’s win.
Mohun Bagan kicked-off from left to right. Playing with a 4-4-2 formation - Darryl Duffy and Balwant Singh on the attack.
The visitors made the first positive move in 4th minute orchestrated from the left flank. BFC got their initial chance in the 8th minute when Captain Sunil Chhetri fouled in the top of the 18-yard box, however the shot went wide.
Earlier, Bengaluru continued with the same starting eleven from their last round match (against Chennai City FC) keeping Serbian Marjan Jugovic on the bench.
Exchanging attacks Duffy took a nice lurking shot in the 18th minute, Bengaluru keeper Arindam put his fingertips to avoid the danger.
Attacking football from both ends made the game beautiful for the fans.
Keeper Arindam again came in action when Katsumi’s free-kick from a close position, which he earned from a foul that Balwant connected spectacularly saved.
It was the Japanese Katsumi Yusa seen spearheading maximum attacks from the right flank for the visitors. Scot Duffy seen coming close to goal
Bagan kept on adding pressure for most of the first half, missing target in few occasions.
Back in the game post lemon break, Bengaluru pressed hard in Bagan defense, garnering couple of free-kicks and corners with no positive outcome.
66th minute saw a brilliant thru from Katsumi for Haitian international Sony Norde that had goal written on it, unfortunately called offside.
Few minute later Bagan suffered a big jolt when left back Subhasis Bose was given marching order by referee Srikrishna. Coach Sen promptly replaced striker Duffy with Prabir Das, playing as left full-back.
High time for Bengaluru to put pressure on Bagan defense with one man advantage.
A header from Sony Norde’s free-kick was put on the back of the Bengaluru’s net much to the joy of the Bangan crowd piled on the lower East Block. However, referee cancelled out owing to an infringement on keeper.
The final five minutes saw a barrage of attack from the blues, but the Bagan defense kept calm and avoided late danger.
Bengaluru FC keeper Arindam Bhattacharya took away the Hero of the Match.
