ISL: Bengaluru aim to tame Pune

Bengaluru: Bengaluru FC's redoubtable record at home and the experience of acing two-legged, knockout games will face its sternest test when they battle a resilient FC Pune City in a do-or-die second leg clash of the

ISL

semifinal at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium here on Sunday.



At the 'Fortress', coach

Albert Roca

's boys are on a seven-match unbeaten run across all competitions and in the ISL, they've won six of their 9 home games.

Throw in the prestigious

AFC Cup

and the Blues have played confident and cautious football to lose only one of their six home-and-away games. But against Pune on Sunday, Roca knows better than to rest on past laurels.

A goalless draw in the first leg at the Balewadi Stadium last week may have earned Bengaluru a clean sheet, but the introduction of the away goals rule gives the visitors a slight upper hand.

During the league phase, the Stallions scored first in both their games against Bengaluru, with the Kanteerava fixture ending in a 1-1 draw. This is a situation that Roca is desperate to avoid, if he hopes to guide the club to the title in their debut ISL season. “Tomorrow is like a final... this has to be our mentality,” the Spaniard said.