East Bengal vs Bengaluru FC: The Indian SuperCup Final Preview
It is an I-League vs ISL final in the inaugural Indian Super Cup, the new club knockout football competition in India. Bengaluru FC face their old I-League rivals East Bengal in the finals of the tournament.
The tournament which was touted as a competition between the two major leagues in India, the I-League and the Indian Super League has reached the judgement day. The battle between the two teams will show us which is the better league. The Blues from Bengaluru take on the Red and Gold Brigade from Kolkata on 20th April, at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneshwar.
It was a tournament which had great moments, and finally, it comes down to two big teams in Indian football fighting for the trophy. The club from Kolkata beat Mumbai City FC, Aizwal FC and FC Goa to reach the finals, while Gokulam Kerala, Neroca FC and Mohun Bagan were knocked out by Bengaluru FC en route to the finals. The two teams have faced each other in the I-League, but since Bengaluru FC shifted to the ISL it is their first meeting.
Miku and Sunil Chhetri have both scored 4 goals each and are the joint leading scorers of the tournament. On the other hand, East Bengal is the only team to have kept two clean sheets in the whole competition.
Khalid Jamil would be targeting his first trophy as the East Bengal manager after winning the league with Aizwal FC. Albert Roca, on the other hand, will be ready to avenge the ISL final loss, by winning the Super Cup.
Cavin Lobo, Katsumi Yusa and Dudu will be leading the charge for the Red and Gold, while the Blues will be dependent on their defence of John Johnson, Juanan, Nishu Kumar, Harmanjot Khabra and Gurpreet Singh Sandhu to stop the unformidable attack.
This would be a game of emotions for the Indian captain Sunil Chhetri as he faces his former club East Bengal in the finals. He scored a stunning goal against Mohun Bagan in the semi-finals, and he would be hoping of doing the same in the finals and take the cup to Bengaluru. BFC will miss Nishu Kumar, as he was sent off because of a reckless challenge he made on Nikhil Kadam in the semi-finals.
The game promises to be a perfect final in the scorching heat of Bhubaneshwar, and it would be up to these teams to decide which league is superior to the other. This would be a glorious moment for Indian ootball as it is the finals of the inaugural edition of the Super Cup. Both the teams have the chance to embed their names in the history books by being crowned as the first Super Cup champions.