BENGALURU: Bengaluru FC have been India’s best AFC Cup bet for the last three years. So, when BFC travelled to the Maldives to face TC Sports Club in the play-offs, they were the favourites. But it was not the best time to visit the country — a national emergency, coupled with a packed schedule, humid conditions and not-so-good pitch conditions greeted Albert Roca’s boys in the island nation.
What could have been a walk in the park for the Indian Super League leaders turned out to be a difficult match. After an evenly contested first-half, BFC went 2-0 up. But what followed was a lacklustre 20 minutes where the opposition scored twice in quick succession. But in the end, Erik Paartalu’s strike gave BFC a slender edge over the Maldives club. On Tuesday, when they clash in the second leg at the Sree Kanteerava stadium here, BFC will hold the edge. But Roca, staying true to his character, denied BFC’s advantage.
“I don’t believe we have any advantage on Tuesday. I am not very confident about our result in the away leg. They played really well but we were lucky to have won the away leg. Now, we have to focus on Tuesday’s game so that we don’t deviate from our target — progressing in the tournament,” he said.
With three more matches to be played in the ISL, Roca will continue to rotate the squad before they progress to the group stage. Harmanjot Khabra, who took a knock in the first-leg, will be unavailable while most of the top players including skipper Sunil Chhetri are expected to be rested. “I trust my squad so everybody can participate. For sure, we will be rotating the squad considering our league matches, game time and workload. But, at the same time, we respect the opponents and we have to consider their strengths. It will not be an easy game and we have to be at our best,” Roca said.
TCSC have come to India with the Maldives Premier League still suspended due to political tensions. The lack of competitive action may end up hurting the visitors. Also, the club needs to win by at least two goals to overturn BFC’s away goal advantage. TCSC assistant coach Mohamed Nizam was cautious in his approach. “I don’t want to sound confident or overconfident. Last game was in the past. It’s a fresh game and I don’t believe we can carry anything other than the lessons we learnt from the game. We have prepared ourselves based on the mistakes,” Nizam said.
krishnendu@newindianexpress.com