KOLKATA: In the club’s first semifinal appearance in Indian Super League (ISL), Odisha FC will be eager to keep their home record intact to carry on with the historical march as they host Mohun Bagan Super Giant in the first leg of the high-octane last-four clash in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday.
Unbeaten in 12 matches at Kalinga Stadium this season, the Juggernauts have surely turned their home ground into a fortress. However, they will be up against the League Shield winners, who are in no mood to lower the level of intensity before doubling up the haul with the ISL Trophy.
Though both league engagements between the two sides this season have failed to produce any winners, historically the Kolkata giants hold a clear advantage over the Kalinga Warriors. Odisha have never beaten MBSG in their past nine ISL encounters, having gone down on four occasions out of those.
Sergio Lobera’s boys will certainly leave no stone unturned to break that winless streak against their much-fancied, confident opponents at home before travelling to the Mariners’ Kolkata citadel for the second leg. Though the Purple brigade can take heart from their 5-2 away win over the green and marrons to knock them out of the AFC Cup group stage.
In ISL, Bagan are in the midst of a terrific run, winning four of their last five league games, including the last-day victory over 2022-23 Shield Winners Mumbai City to pip the Islanders to the Shield, the only missing silverware in their cherished trophy cabinet until then.
Odisha, on the other hand, had a great start and steady momentum midway through the campaign, only to see it lose steam towards the end which saw them finish the league in fourth place. They secured their historic semis berth with a thrilling 2-1 comeback win against Kerala Blasters in the playoffs at home.
Ahead of taking on the Shield Winners, Odisha FC head coach Sergio Lobera banked on their record at home this season. “Tomorrow’s game will be a difficult game. We are going to play against the current shield winners’ team. They have a very good team, but we also have a very good team and we are unbeaten in Kalinga. We want to keep the momentum in terms of our results at home. Our target is to finish the season unbeaten (at home),” Lobera said ahead of the game on Monday.
Asked how special it will be to reach the ISL final, the Spanish coach said, “It will be very special for us to reach the semifinals. We are creating a lot of pages in terms of creating a story in the club. We want to do one step more. It will be amazing to reach the final.”
Praising their opponents, Mohun Bagan coach Antonio Lopez Habas said ahead of the game, “For me, the past is not one to think about. I have to live in the present. Odisha are a very difficult opponent because they have a good coach, they have players with experience, and it will be a difficult match for us.”
About their preparations for the semis clash, the Spanish gaffer said, “We need to prepare for this match as any league match, we need to win this match in the 90 minutes. We can’t think about the second leg, that is how we think about it. This semifinal is very difficult to win in the first leg, but we should not lose it in the first match.”
With great tacticians at the helm of two talented bunch of players fighting for supremacy, Tuesday’s clash at Kalinga calls for an exciting first part of the two-legged battle for a berth in the final.
