Bengaluru: Tagged with the moniker of the South Indian derby and all that comes with it, Bengaluru FC will look to rubber stamp their championship credentials when they host newcomers Chennai City FC in the second round of the I-League at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, on Saturday. It will be the first clash between teams from these two states at the national league after 15 years.
Having opened their campaign with a convincing 3-0 win over Shillong Lajong, while looking like they never got off the second gear, the defending champions do look like the team to beat in the tournament.
The Chennai side, who are playing their first fixture on the road, opened their campaign with a hard fought, if slightly disjointed, draw against fellow debutants Minerva Punjab FC at home. A fixture marred with questions over the availability of the stadium among other issues.
The home side will start as firm favourites on account of not just their performances and form, but also owing to the fact that the away side’s had very little time to prepare the team ahead of the league and looked wanting in terms of fitness in the first game.
Having said that, the thrill of football comes from its potential to surprise.
It’s hard to envisage any change in the BFC line-up after last week’s performance but the addition of Honduras striker Roby Norales and Indian international defender Sandesh Jhingan augurs well for the club.
However, neither of them look ready to start but could prove a useful option from the bench if need arises to chase the game and maybe even change the shape of the team.
Cameron Watson and Lenny Rodrigues seem to have struck a nice tandem playing the double pivot ahead of the defence, the former often operating so deep that he often takes up centre back positions to orchestrate play, and the onus will be on Denson Devdas, Dhanpal Ganesh and Islam Amiri to not only create but also stop BFC, led by midfielder Eugeneson Lyngdoh, from building steam.
On evidence of their previous tie, the Chennai outfit depend primarily on the wings to carry their attacking threat. But with the hulking figures of John Johnson and Juanan at the centre of the BFC defence and Harmanjot Khabra at right back, a plan B might be a necessity.
Udanta Singh, who scored a brace in the opening week, and the nifty Sunil Chhetri, with their speed and ability to run channels, look the most potent weapons for the defending champions going forward, a challenge of no small magnitude for captain Dharmaraj Ravanan, Abhishek Das and Echezona Anyichie in defence and Karanjit Singh, star of the first match, in goal.
Having already pulled a crowd upwards of 10,000 in the opener, there are reasons to be optimistic of drawing even more this time around, fuelled by not just the derby tag but also the cross pollination of talent.
Consistency is key: Roca
Following a winning start to their I-League campaign, Bengaluru FC head coach Albert Roca on Friday called for consistency from his players to build on the momentum.
“We are in that stage to build up something so we have to be consistent. It’s only our second game but we have to face it as we did during the first game. We need to press on them and to execute all plans. Our intention is to keep up the team spirit we have shown our supporters in our first game,” said Roca ahead of the clash against Chennai City FC.
When asked about his opponents he replied: “We know some of their players and we know their skills. It’s not going to be easy as they have got few experienced players. Most of them have already played in the I-league. It’s for us to show our skills. I expect a game which is more difficult than the last one.”
Meanwhile Chennai coach Robin Charles remarked that, despite the lack of preparation time, he expects a good show from his side.
“Every match we want to do well. The time frame is short. We need two-three games to gel together. But we have players who have played I-League — Denson, Dhanapal, Ravanan etc.. We have players from all over. No matter two days, 20 days, two years, we will do well as a team. I definitely feel we are going to be a force to reckon with in the days to come,” he stressed.
