Calcutta: Mohun Bagan are hoping to log full points against Bengaluru FC on Saturday when the I-League resumes after the break. Mohun Bagan will be playing eight matches in the next one month and six of them are I-League matches.
It’s a sort of a fixture congestion but coach Sanjay Sen said he is not thinking much about it. According to him, it will be practical to take one match at a time. So the focus is now on the match against the defending champions. “No point thinking about how many matches we would have to play in April. The most important thing is to log full points after the 17-day break,”
Bagan have 23 points from 12 matches and are still in the title race along with table toppers Aizawl FC and second-placed East Bengal. A slip-up at the Rabindra Sarobar Stadium on Saturday evening will dent their hopes of regaining the I-League they won two seasons back defeating the same opponent in Bangalore.
Bagan will be missing Subhasish Basu, Pranoy Halder and Raynier Fernandes, but Raju Gailwad and Kingshuk Debnath have recovered from their injuries.
During the I-League break, Bengaluru FC’s seven players and Bagan’s three regulars represented India against Cambodia in a friendly and then against Myanmar in their Asian Cup 2019 qualifier. The Myanmar match was on Tuesday and the players reached the city on Wednesday. When asked whether fatigue would be a factor, both Sen and his Bengaluru counterpart Albert Roca said “no.”
“Three of my players (Jeje Lalpekhlua, Anas Edathodika and Pritam Kotal) played the entire 90 minutes against Myanmar… That means they are in match-shape. So I do not think there will be any fatigue factor,” Sen said.
Bagan’s main player, Sony Norde, arrived from Haiti on Friday morning and straightaway was at the club ground for the pre-match practice session. Sen said he would take a call on Sony on Saturday morning, but given the importance of the match, Sony should be in the playing XI.
For Bengaluru FC, there is nothing at stake. With 18 points from 13 matches, they are already out of the title race. Coach Roca said motivation will be that they will be playing against a team like Bagan.
Roca was asked about Bengaluru FC’s poor form in this edition and he said: “Football is like this. It cannot be that every team is winning all time, it will be very boring then. We have teams like Mohun Bagan and East Bengal in the competition. Bengaluru FC made changes and the one among them is the coach. I have not even completed one year. I have tried to move things and make changes. But it will take time.”
