Kolkata, Aug 13 (UNI) Indian club football action returns this August with the arrival of the AFC Cup 2021, with potentially two Indian clubs – ATK Mohun Bagan and Bengaluru FC in action in the competition's Group Stage (South) from August 18-24, 2021.
Group D consists of ATK Mohun Bagan FC, Maziya Sports & Recreation from the Maldives, and Bangladeshi side Bashundhara Kings, along with the winner of the South Asia Play-Off match between Bengaluru FC, who are 2016 AFC Cup runners-up, and Maldives’ Club Eagles. The play-off fixture will take place on August 15, 2021, in Male.
ATK Mohun Bagan is direct entrant to the group stage of the AFC Cup 2021 by being a winner of the Hero I-League 2019-20, after they agree to form a joint venture, and will be confident of making a mark on the continental stage and move forward together.
Bengaluru FC earned their AFC Cup 2021 Preliminary Round 2 entry by a third-place finish in the Hero Indian Super League's league phase in 2019-20 and defeated Nepal's Tribhuvan Army FC 5-0 in April 2021 to enter the play-off round. On Monday (August 9, 2021), they announced a 29-man squad for the clash against Club Eagles, which will be led by Indian national team skipper Sunil Chhetri.
The teams in Group D will face off against each other in a single-leg round-robin format across three matchdays -- August 18, 21 and 24, with all matches being held in the Maldives. The eventual group winner will proceed to the next round, which is the single-leg Inter-Zone Semi-final.
The Group D fixtures are as below:
August 18: Bashundhara Kings vs Maziya Sports & Recreation
August 18: ATK Mohun Bagan vs Bengaluru FC/Club Eagles
August 21: Maziya Sports & Recreation vs ATK Mohun Bagan
August 21: Bengaluru FC/Club Eagles vs Bashundhara Kings
August 24: Maziya Sports & Recreation vs Bengaluru FC/Club Eagles
August 24: ATK Mohun Bagan vs Bashundhara Kings
UNI XC-PC RN