BENGALURU:
Bengaluru FC will look to make it six league wins on the bounce when they host second placed
FC Pune City in their penultimate
Indian Super League [ISL] home tie at the
Sree Kanteerava Stadium
here on Friday.
It's all come together for
Albert Roca
and his boys right at the business end of the tournament, their purple patch already ensuring them of a playoff spot, with the team being widely hailed as the best in the competition.
While their consistency and position atop the league table would add credibility to this argument, the team has to keep the show going in the coming weeks, in the playoffs and final, to add to their silverware collection. In spite of that, Roca revealed that finishing top was a priority for the club as it shows that they were the best throughout the competition.
“It’s always difficult to believe that despite doing things well, you cannot win,” he said on Thursday. “The first goal for us was to qualify [for playoff] and the second is to finish first. We don’t get the cup by doing that but we can show that we are the most consistent. I would love to feel that pride in our effort. It’s not just about winning the cup for me, it’s about playing good football.”
Pune come into the match with back-to-back wins on the road and another three points should all but ensure a playoff berth for them as well. And Roca, hinting that he might give a run out for some of the fringe players, was under no illusions about the difficulty of the task ahead.
“Now it’s about keeping the momentum. Pune are the most difficult team in the
ISL
at the moment and I’m sure will be in the playoff. Anything we can learn tomorrow will be good for us,” Roca said.
The home side, who just returned after their
AFC
Cup commitment from a politically volatile Maldives, will be without Boithang Haokip and Harmanjot Khabra, who are both nursing injuries, while striker Miku remains doubtful. Much of the team’s success will be on the shoulders of captain
Sunil Chhetri, Edu Garcia and midfield orchestrator Dimas Delgado, who looks in devastating form.
Pune will be banking on the attacking talents of the prolific duo Marcelinho and Emiliano Alfaro to get them a playoff berth while midfielder Adil Khan has also proven to be a goal threat.
With both teams playing entertaining football, the Garden City is, in all likeliness, in for a treat. The match kicks off at 8 pm.
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