Goa: After an exciting league stage of the Hero Indian Super League season seven, four teams have finally made it to the play-offs namely, Mumbai City FC as table topper, ATK Mohun Bagan as the second team, NorthEast United FC as the third team and FC Goa as the fourth team. We would discuss the chances and who might end up winning the ISL trophy this season.
Mumbai City FC: They have been the strongest side in the ISL this season. The Mumbai side’s 65% stake was bought by the City Football Group and thus it was the beginning of success as per companies history. They signed Sergio Lobera, the former coach of FC Goa and he changed the whole squad from last season.
He brought in his favourite players like Mourtada Fall, Hugo Boumous, Ahmed Jahouh, Mandar Rao Desai who were a part of Goa’s success in the qualification go to the AFC Champions League. So when they bought players like Bartholomew Ogbeche and Adam Le Fondre in the front line every other football fan was hoping for something big from the Islanders this season.
But their league didn’t start the way everyone thought, they lost their first match against NorthEast by a 1-0. When everyone thought that they have been a side of big money mockery, the Islanders turned their fate by winning back to back matches. Their passing football was certainly eye-catching to say at least and the players developed a telepathic connection between each other. They have a leader in every area. In goal it’s Amrinder Singh, in defence, there is Fall, in midfield, there is Boumous, at the top, there is Le Fondre and Ogbeche.
They were six points clear at a time to their nearest rival ATKMB but every good team lose their way in a long league and a similar thing happened to Mumbai when they lost to NorthEast and Jamshedpur FC and everyone thought that they would lose their way to ATKMB. But they had the right players at right places as said before and those players just fired up in their last two matches. They beat ATKMB on Sunday, February 28th and qualified for the group stage of the AFC Champions League next season. This has been a huge achievement for the Islanders and they are most likely to make a double by winning the ISL trophy this season. They are going to face FC Goa on the first semi-final on 5th March, Friday.
ATK Mohun Bagan: When the merger happened in June 2020, every football fan was excited to witness how the historic club of India and the most successful club in the ISL work together. Under the watchful eye of coach Antonio Lopez Habas, the was very strong on paper. They had players like Roy Krishna, David Williams, Edu Garcia, Javi Hernandez, Pritam Kotal, Prabir Das all were a part of ATK’s ISL winning side. So they know how to do it. Even the club signed big Indian names like Sandesh Jhingan, Manvir Singh, Glenn Martins, Subhashis Bose. Even bought Tiri from Jamshedpur to solidify the defence.
They started the season as everyone expected them to start with a victory and they began with a victory over Kerala Blasters FC. In the second match, they faced their city rivals SC East Bengal FC and went of victorious with a 2-0 scoreline. They had the players and were having a gala time on the field. Everyone knew that till the match isn’t over the Mariners can strike them. They collected 18 points from a scoreline of 1-0 this season and the experts named them the masters of 1-0. They lost to Mumbai in the last game of the season and slipped their chance to qualify for the AFC Champions League, so they would be a wounded tiger in the play-offs. With Krishna among the top-scorers in the league, they would be looking to make it big with ATKMB this season. Habas has been a master tactician and knows how to do it so certainly they would be a team to watch out for, they aren’t less than Mumbai but just far more dangerous.
NorthEast United FC: After a disappointing last season by finishing 9th in the league table it was important for the Highlanders to come back strongly this season. They had a good start to the season with a victory over Mumbai and going unbeaten in their first four matches and everyone thought that this team has the courage to make it big under Gerad Nus. But things fell apart suddenly and they started to lose their way into the league with back to back losses. Nus was sacked and Khalid Jamil was brought in as an interim manager. And it was the masterstroke.
They qualified for the play-offs by staying unbeaten in their last eight matches in which Jamil has led the side. Players like Federico Gallego, Deshorn Brown, Luis Machado, VP Suhair, Apuia has been playing some good football and this is giving the Highlanders some hope prior to the season which they have ended strongly and would be ready to face ATKMB in the play-offs on 6th March, Saturday.
FC Goa: After losing out half of the squad to Mumbai in the beginning of the season, Goa had to adjust everything from the ground zero stage. They brought a young and exciting Spanish manager Juan Ferrando who has been a very much realistic person and knows what to do and what not to.
They bought Igor Angulo as their new forward to replace their and ISL’s all-time top-scorer Ferran Corominas. The Angulo trick worked out well as he has managed to score 13 this season till date and would be looking to score more in the play-offs. Goa would be focused on winning the ISL this season which they never won a single year since it’s an inaugural season. They have players like Jorge Ortiz, Ishan Pandita, Edu Bedia, Brandon Fernandes to make it or break it this season. They are going to face Mumbai on 5th March, Friday in the first semi-final.
