THE BLOG BY CPD FOOTBALL | The World of Indian football and beyond by Chris Punnakkattu Daniel

Mohun Bagan are clear favourites in AFC Cup preliminaries

Mohun Bagan AC (Photo courtesy: I-League Media)

Mohun Bagan are gearing up to taking Colombo FC in the second leg of the 2017 AFC Cup Preliminary Stage at the Rabindra Sarovar Stadium in Kolkata today (February 7, 2017). The Kolkata-based outfit will hold a little edge over their Sri Lankan counterpart owing to their 2-1 win in the first leg played a week ago.

“I believe tomorrow will be a fresh game and it’ll start from zero. We have to start afresh and play a flawless football to stay afloat in the AFC Cup 2017”, Mohun Bagan boss Sanjoy Sen exuded during the pre-match press conference held today.

On being asked whether he has a fully-fit squad at his disposal to select his pawns tomorrow, the Bengali boss commented, “Apart from Kean Lewis, Eduardo and Kingshuk, everyone is fit and rearing to give it a shot tomorrow.”

To add more woes to Colombo FC coach Hassan Roomy, two of his Nigerian foreigners were denied Indian entry visa at the last moment, which minimises the chance of his team’s comeback significantly.

“See, you have to be mentally well-built to cope up with these sort of issues when you’re in charge of a Football team. Whoever is here, have to deal with the issue and push the barriers to get the job done on the final whistle”, Hassan Roomy said it in one breath.

Mohun Bagan have a one-goal advantage from the first leg and the Mariners can’t afford to lose tomorrow by a margin of more than 2 goals to stay afloat in the tournament. Should Mohun Bagan make it into the group stage of the forthcoming AFC Cup 2017, they have to overcome either of Thimpu City FC (Bhutan) & Club Valencia (Maldives) in the AFC Cup 2017 Playoff stage.

The first leg of the other tie in the South Zone between Thimpu City FC and Club Valencia finished in a goalless stalemate.

The match between Mohun Bagan and Colombo FC, which will also see Rabindra Sarovar Stadium hosting a continental match for the first time, is scheduled at 19.00 IST and it’ll be streamed live on the XtraTime Facebook page and Youtube channel.

(Report courtesy: AIFF Media / Photo courtesy: I-League Media)