Bengaluru, Mumbai City eye Super Cup quarters

With a berth at the 2025-26 AFC Champions League Two qualifying playoff at stake, the likes of Bengaluru FC and Mumbai City FC — finishing third and sixth respectively on the ISL league table and then missing out on the title in the playoffs — will be eager to make the most of the Kalinga Super Cup and reclaim glory for themselves and their fans.ISL runners-up Bengaluru FC will take on I-League runners-up Inter Kashi in the afternoon fixture in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday with eye on a place in the quarterfinals. Mumbai City, meanwhile, will battle it out with Chennaiyin FC, who have had a forgettable ISL outing this season with an eleventh-place finish, in an evening game at Kalinga Stadium to claim a place in the last eight."Qualifying for the AFC Champions League 2 Playoffs by winning the Kalinga Super Cup is a big motivation. I want the players to win everything on offer. BFC are a club that has done well in Asia in the past, and we want to return there," Bengaluru coach Gerard Zaragoza said in the pre-match press conference in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday.The performances of Edgar Mendez, Ryan Williams, Jorge Pereyra Diaz and Alberto Noguera, along with skipper Sunil Chhetri's constant goal threat, will be key to Bengaluru's endeavours in attack. Defender Aleksandar Jovanovic, who announced his decision to retire at the end of the tournament, will also be eager to bow out on a high.Meanwhile, Inter Kashi, who lost out on the I-League crown to Churchill Brothers after days of waiting and will be without their inspirational head coach Antonio Lopez Habas for the campaign, will use the ISL experience of goalkeeper Arindam Bhattacharya, defenders Narayan Das and Sarthak Golui, midfielder Joni Kauko and forward Prasanth Karuthadathkuni to fold Bengaluru's plans.On the other hand, Peter Kratky and his Mumbai City will be under pressure to get their act together after a disappointing ISL campaign. They will, however, miss the services of key players in injury and personal reasons."It's an opportunity for Indian players and the other players to get some minutes now. Sometimes you have to wait for your opportunity, which has now come for other players, and they just have to show why they are here, because they have quality," Kratky said at the media interaction on Tuesday.On the other hand, Chennaiyin have named a formidable squad — led by striker Connor Shields, and standout Indian performers Irfan Yadwad and Jiteshwor Singh — to reignite their domestic campaign after a poor ISL outing.Shields will have Wilmar Jordan Gil and Daniel Chima Chukwu to aid in attack, with Gil aiming to become the outright top-scorer of the Super Cup, being just a goal shy of Chhetri at the top of the all-time standings.