KOLKATA: For ATK Mohun Bagan (ATKMB) coach Juan Ferrando, this may be a battle between a “champion” and not a champion side. For Gokulam Kerala FC coach Vincenzo Alberto Annese, this may be a battle between two two sides whose team-building budgets are as different as night and day. Yet, when ATKMB will re-launch their AFC Cup campaign with the Group D opener against I-League champions Gokulam Kerala, both teams will be driven by the search for a new identity and new goal, keen to outdo one another to show who’s best prepared to lead Indian football in the continent.
“All three teams are champions of their respective league, but we are not, and we can’t hide from this fact,” the Spanish coach, whose side lost the ISL Winners’ Shield to Jamshedpur FC and failed to make the final, said during the pre-match press conference on Tuesday. But Ferrando is aware that his team will have to live with the favourites’ tag even though Bangladesh champions Bashundhara Kings and their Maldives opposite Maziya Sports are there to queer the pitch for the home side.
