Mohun Bagan Super Giant head coach Jose Molina was a happy man on Saturday.
His team ended the ISL-XI league phase with 56 points from 24 matches, defeating FC Goa 2-0 at the packed Salt Lake Stadium, and lifting the Shield for the second season on the trot.
Bagan’s eight-point gap with second-placed FC Goa was also a first in the league’s 11-season history.
“I am a happy man. We did a great job. From the owner to the players, everybody, the coaching staff, all of us helped to win this Shield.
“When you have passion, maybe you can be lucky. You can have luck, but the luck is not for free,” he said at the post-match news conference on Saturday.
Looking ahead, the Spaniard said the players need to rest and recharge before the upcoming playoffs.
“Next match will be in the first week of April. So it’s a long time. We all deserve some days of rest. We need to go home, meet our loved ones.
“We need to recharge the batteries. We will come stronger. We will come back as an A-team to play in A games and I have no doubt that the players will enjoy the playoffs,” Molina, 54, said.
Bagan’s domination could be gauged from the fact that they lost just two matches in the league phase and sealed the Shield on February 23 itself.
“To win is difficult and to keep on winning is more difficult. My players proved that they are champion players. They won last year (under Antonio Lopez Habas).
“Not all of them, but a lot of them. And they won again this season. This is more difficult than the last one,” he added.