Mohun Bagan president Gitanath Ganguly wished Kibu Vicuna and presented him with a box of sweets after Wednesday’s practice at the Salt Lake Stadium training ground.

A little later, Vicuna quipped: “Good to have got them (sweets) now.”

He was then whisked away into the dressing room. Perhaps the head coach understood that sweets could taste sour if the result doesn’t turn out to be favourable for them against Mohammedan Sporting in a crucial CFL Premier Division A clash at the Salt Lake Stadium on Thursday.

Without doubt, it’s a must-win game for both Bagan and Mohammedan Sporting in terms of keeping their title hopes alive. But for Bagan, any other result barring victory could well put Vicuna under some pressure. His predecessors can certainly enlighten him on this aspect.

In other words, a draw will not be enough for the defending champions because that will again push them behind in the title race. With four teams stuck on 14 points in the league table, it’s anybody’s trophy at the moment.

“The league is very unpredictable. Given how we played against George Telegraph, hardly anyone thought we could lose to Aryan in our next match. I don’t think we played badly against Aryan… Just that we couldn’t utilise the chances…

“In CFL, anything is possible because most of the teams have good foreign players,” Vicuna said.

Bagan’s key man and playmaker Joseba Beitia believes his team stands a pretty decent chance of retaining the CFL crown. “Of course, we can… All four teams (on 14 points) have possibilities of winning the league. We just have to watch our own game and try and win every match,” Beitia told The Telegraph.