‘Dig deep, get the win’

Former Cup winners Bengaluru FC, powered by the evergreen Sunil Chhetri, are looking to secure a place in the Indian Super League semi-finals when they host Mumbai City FC in a high-stake knockout clash here on Saturday. The veteran forward Chhetri, who recently came out of international retirement, could become the first player to score 10 goals against Mumbai City FC.

Petr Kratky

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Chhetri has scored eight goals in ISL playoffs – more than any other player in the competition’s history – as he looks to be the difference maker yet again. However, Mumbai City have been rock-solid at the back. Having recorded the second-most clean sheets this season (10), head coach Petr Kratky will rely on his defensive setup to frustrate host’s attack.

Mumbai’s defensive high

Additionally, they have the know-how of stopping Chhetri & Co. considering they have kept four consecutive clean sheets against Bengaluru FC while also scoring eight times against them. Despite scraping through to the Playoffs after finishing sixth, the Islanders’ boss is not concerned about his team’s performance in the league phase, considering the knock-outs to be a whole different beast.

‘ISL Cup, it’s different’

“For me, this is a completely different competition. We are playing for the ISL Cup. We have reflected on what’s worked and what hasn’t, and we’ve worked hard to fix our weaknesses,” he said. However, Kratky is under no illusion about the task at hand. “They [Bengaluru] are a quality team, and they finished high in the standings for a reason. We have to dig deep, go away, and get the win,” he added.

Nevertheless, Mumbai City have a few offensive weapons of their own such as Nikolaos Karelis, who has found the back of the net 10 times this season. However, Kratky is emphasising a team-first approach rather than glorifying individuals. “It’s a team effort always. Karelis scored ten goals, but it’s not just because of him, it’s all about the team and everything comes together when we work as a unit,” said the Mumbai boss. Meanwhile Bengaluru’s head coach Gerard Zaragoza exuded confidence in his team’s ability to deliver under pressure.

“It’s an all-or-nothing game and believe me, we know how to play these kinds of matches,” Zaragoza said. Mumbai City FC have dominated this fixture in recent times, winning four of their last five matches against Bengaluru. However, the hosts will take confidence from their dramatic penalty shoot-out victory over the Islanders in the 2022-23 semi-finals, the only previous Playoff meeting between the two sides.

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