PANAJI (Goa): Bengaluru FC will take on hosts FC Goa in the Indian Super League (ISL) here at the Fatorda Stadium, in Margao on Sunday.
This fixture has always turned up with the goods and goals, and while the pandemic has put a spanner in the works with the way teams have gone about preparing for the season, the game promises to entertain.
“All the squads will try to be competitive from the first day but it takes some time, and we have to understand that. The circumstances are very different,” Bengaluru head coach Cuadrat told the club’s website.
While the Blues’ foreign contingent – players and staff – arrived in India in batches before undergoing their mandatory period of quarantine, the Indian players got the pre-season underway in the first week of October.
“The Indian players have been working from October 1. It has been around seven to eight weeks of pre-season for them already. They have been doing some very good work. With regard to foreigners, all clubs had the same issues and I guess that was out of our control. I am certain we will see better football from all teams in the next few weeks,” added Cuadrat.
“We can expect a completely different game, from normal, against FC Goa because of the circumstances. You could see in the game yesterday (between Kerala Blasters and ATK Mohun Bagan) that the teams are not in their best physical state yet. The intensity, against FC Goa, might not be the same as the one we are used to.”
In FC Goa, Bengaluru are up against a team that have had a change at the helm as well as on the pitch. Juan Ferrando has replaced fellow-Spaniard Sergio Lobera as coach of the Gaurs, and the side who finished the League stages on top last season have a fair number of new faces after an exodus of sorts that saw Mourtada Fall, Hugo Boumous, Ahmed Jahouh and Mandar Rao Dessai follow Lobera to Mumbai City FC.
The hosts will also miss the services of Ferran Corominas, but while the Spaniard’s departure has left a sizable gap to fill, FC Goa have replaced him with fellow countryman Igor Angulo, another prolific striker who will no doubt keep the Blues’ defence on its toes.
“Goa has a squad with new players and a new head coach, which means new ideas. I am sure they (FC Goa) have been studying us and they will try to add another dimension to the game from what has been happening in the previous seasons. We have to be ready for anything,” said Cuadarat.
