Two years after the notorious walkout by Kerala Blasters, the Sree Kanteerava Stadium will play host to a different single-legged playoff with Bengaluru FC welcoming Mumbai City FC on Saturday.
At stake is a spot in the ISL semifinal against FC Goa, and at the very least on paper, host BFC appears higher geared up to bag that. Forward Jorge Pereyra Diaz is again after a two-month layoff; goalie Gurpreet Singh Sandhu is contemporary after not being a part of the India set-up against Maldives and Bangladesh, and defender Aleksandar Jovanovic will hope to make his last ISL season earlier than retirement memorable.
The attacking trio of Alberto Noguera, Edgar Mendez and Ryan Williams will hope to work its magic whilst talisman Sunil Chhetri shall be looking forward to his 40-year-old physique to get well in time after practically 170 minutes of worldwide soccer in per week.
Mumbai, on the different hand, is predicted to have key personnel out. Defender Tiri is unlikely to play; midfielder Brandon Fernandes obtained injured against Maldives and Lallianzuala Chhangte missed all of the motion in the worldwide window. Much will rely on striker Nikolaos Karelis, who has scored 10 targets.
However, the proven fact that Mumbai has received extra on the highway this season than at residence can present confidence. It even beat BFC – albeit a weakened one – of their earlier encounter, a 2-0 victory earlier this month that helped Petr Kratky’s males sneak into the playoffs.
But the final time BFC left Kanteerava upset after an ISL knockout match was the last against Chennaiyin FC in 2018. To defend this report will be motivation sufficient.
Published – March 28, 2025 08:58 pm IST
