Indian Super League championship already been decided but the football season is not over yet. The ISL Cup winner’s medal is on the line and Mohun Bagan re-organize their troops for the Mission Treble. They will face Odisha FC in the 2 legged semifinal clash which will be played tomorrow 23rd and on Sunday, 28th of April. The first leg will be played on Kalinga Stadium where the Mariners haven’t been defeated yet against Odisha. They faced each other during AFC cup and ISL where Mohun Bagan was victorious against Odisha in AFC Cup match and a goalless draw in ISL clash played in February. Anyway, the Kalinga Stadium is not at all a bad hunting ground for them.
As a ISL League winner Mohun Bagan directly qualify to the semifinal whereas Odisha had to play a playoff match against Kerala Blasters which they eventually won in extra time by a 2-1 margin. In that match Odisha was trailing for the most part of the game but they have equalized on 87th minute and eventually they scored the winning goal in extra time.
Mohun Bagan gave 3 days break to their players and support staffs after the successful ISL triumph and resume their practice on Friday. There was not much of a injury news and only unavailability would be Brendan Hamill who will not take part of the match because of his red card which he saw against Mumbai. Sahal looks fit and ready to take part of the game but may not be the part of the starting XI. On the other side Diego Mauricio also had some injury concern and he may not be the part of full 90 minutes as we have seen against Kerala Blasters. Mohun Bagan gaffer Antonio Lopez Habas is dead serious even after the ISL Championship winner medal and he locked his target on the ISL Cup. He has communicated the same to the players and the much awaited celebration was postponed because of that. Mohun Bagan could give Anirudh Thapa another start because of his excellent performance in the last 2 league matches and also Sadiku could be the first choice center forward ahead of Jason Cummings. The confidence level of Mohun Bagan players are sky high and if they can able to hold on to their complacency then there will be much more joy awaits for them. In the Yesterday’s press conference Mr. Habas and Liston both looked quite serious about their next match and there was no other thought except the win among the players.
On the other hand, Odisha quite deservingly qualified to the Semi final but in their match against Kerala Blasters we saw few loopholes in their defense line which is very unlikely in their game-play. They had to suffer till the very last moment but eventually defeated Kerala and went to the Semi final. Roy Krishna who provided 2 assists, played a crucial part in that match along with their midfield general Ahmed Jahouh. In one point in that match, Odisha Coach Sergio Lobera substituted all of his foreign defenders for bringing players to the attacking position.
Anyway, this will be a battle between two master tacticians. In one hand you have Antonio Lopez Habas, a old school Football Coach with brilliant game reading ability with his recent success in ISL and in other hand you have Sergio Lobera who is also a top class tactician having won multiple ISL triumph in his coaching career. The match will start from 7:30 PM in Bhubaneswar and a significant number of Mariners will be present in the Kalinga Stadium to outnumber the voice of local fans.
Line up:
Kick off Time: 7:30PM(IST)
Live telecast/streaming: JioCinema, Sports18 3, DD Bangla, OneFootball(International)
Venue: Kalinga Stadium, Odisha.
