It's the final matchday in the group stages of the Asian Football Confederation's (AFC) Cup. Mohun Bagan will look to unfurl and flutter their sails in the continental competition's breeze as they seek to do the double over Dhaka Abahani Limited in Bangladesh, on Wednesday, 31st May.
The Mariners know that they cannot progress to the Inter-Zonal semifinals with only the group winners progressing. Abahani Dhaka are also out of the tournament, reducing this fixture into a dead rubber.
However, a bigger concern throbbing the arteries of the Mariners will be the impending departure of the man at the hridge of the Kolkata juggernaut - Sanjoy Sen. This is widely expected to to be the 2015 I-League winning coach's last game in charge of a team he's built and presided over.
Therefore, his team will look to light up the Bangabandhu national stadium in corresponding colour fireworks. The hurt of losing the Federation Cup to their fiercest, non-Kolkata rivals will be hurting the Rabindra Sarobar stadium-based team and they would want to finish the season on a high.
The Kolkata side will be without some of their trusted lieutenants on the field of play. Eduardo Ferreira, Sehnaj Singh, Balwant Singh, Pritam Kotal and Anas Edathodika have not travelled to Dhaka. Sony Norde has been denied access to due to diplomatic reasons.
Another factor that needs to be considered is the state of cyclone Mora, which made landfall in Chittagong and is now moving towards the northeast of India.
Coach Sen stressed on the strength in reserve of this Bagan team that add the neccessary weight to the absentees in the squad.
"It is more important how we play tomorrow than what team we have brought with us. We did not play Sony, Duffy and Eudardo against Bengaluru FC in our previous match of the AFC Cup, but still we beat them 3-1. So it is not important how much strength we have. What is important is whether you can play well to win,” he expounded.
Anyone expecting Dhaka Abahani to be the walkovers will be plain wrong. They, after all, did defeat the new Federation Cup champions during a group tie in Bangladesh and are expected to place a similar barricade in the path of Sen's cavalry.
Drago Mamaic's squad, already eliminated, will look to say goodbye to this edition of the tournament with a smile on the faces of their supporters.
"Sometimes one good player may not play but the other players give their best. It is not only up to Sony Norde, there are more good players like Jeje [Lalpekhlua], Katsumi [Yusa], Balwant [Singh], [Darryl] Duffy. But I am not looking at the other team; I am looking at my team to play like we played against Bengaluru FC. Everything is possible in tomorrow's [Wednesday's] match," revealed a collected Croat coach in his pre-match presser.
Kick-off from ACT II of this cross-border rivalry is at 7:15 PM IST.
PREDICTED LINE UPS
