Classy Blues brace up for Chennaiyin challenge
Sunil Chhetri's men look to make their debut memorable against a formidable opposition
Bengaluru's Sunil Chhetri (left) and Chennai's Jeje Lalpekhlua will be the men to watch in the ISL final on Saturday. DH Photo/ Krishnakumar P S
This is it! This is what the last five months have been about and destiny beckons Indian Super League debutants Bengaluru FC as they take on Chennaiyin FC in the title bout on Saturday.
The atmosphere at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium promises to be fiery with two of the best teams in the league battling for supremacy. No home side has ever won an ISL final so the onus will be on Bengaluru to script a bit of history, especially considering the massive crowd support they'll enjoy.
Bengaluru versus Chennaiyin has been a duel that has been gaining in popularity, mostly owing to the constant issues between the two states. To add fuel to the fire, BFC suffered a 1-2 loss when the two sides met here in December in the league phase. Vivid memories of Mailson Alves celebrating over-enthusiastically with the away fans will be something the Bengaluru faithful will not forget in a hurry and they'd be hoping the Blues can exact revenge.
Bengaluru's poster boy and the man who leads them from the front, Chhetri, was unflustered about that clash insisting his side had a lot of positives going for them since then. "In my opinion, if that game had happened a week or two weeks ago, then I may have told you that Chennai hold an edge. It isn't a fresh memory now, so that isn't on our mind. Yes, the result is, but tomorrow is a whole different ball game and we are looking forward to it," Chhetri said.
"As a club, we've done well in our inaugural season. I'm very fortunate to have played many big games in my career, and tomorrow's game is right up there with the rest of them," the skipper added.
It has been a relatively smooth journey for the men from Bengaluru, collecting 40 points from 18 outings en route to their table-topping exploits in the league phase. Chennaiyin, on the other hand, have found it hard to string together a run of victories but getting the right results at crucial points during the season helped them occupy the second spot, eight points off the top.
Bengaluru have been prolific in front of goal with 35 in the league phase, something Chennaiyin have struggled with on occasions having only found the net on 24 occasions. But the strength John Gregory's men possess in midfield and defence will make life tough for the likes of Chhetri and Miku, Bengaluru's key men up front.
Chennayin have been lining up stoutly at the back with skipper Henrique Sereno and Mailson Alves marshalling the back-line efficiently in front of the ever-reliable Karanjit Singh in goal. Another plus for the visitors is Jeje Lalpekhlua's current form as he netted a brace in their rout of FC Goa in the second leg of their semifinal.
Bengaluru also had a fine win over FC Pune City in their semifinal. Apart from Chhetri's superb hat-trick, another stand-out for Bengaluru during that win was the fantastic display from custodian Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, who made some vital saves to keep his side alive.
Jeje will be Chennaiyin's main man but it won't be a walk in the park for the striker as he faces the tested pair of Juanan and John Johnson in the heart of Bengaluru's defence. Indeed, the Chhetri-Jeje subplot will be one the intriguing features of the evening.
Aware of the threat the opposition skipper poses, Chennaiyin's head coach John Gregory signalled his intent at restricting the attacker. "He (Chhetri) has had an outstanding season so far. Between Miku and him, they have about 27 goals and that is a really good number. We have learnt from experience that if you can keep players like this quiet, your chances of winning get better. That is what we will try and do," observed Gregory.
Jeje, Alves, Raphael Augusto and Karanjit were all part of Chennaiyin's winning squad in 2015 and with talented youngsters like Anirudh Thapa and Bikramjit Singh, Chennai will eye a huge scalp to wrap up their second title. In front of a passionate home crowd, Bengaluru, though, will have different ideas.
With every seat in the house sold, it will be an absolutely deafening setting as two cities come together in a celebration of the beautiful game.