Up towards a formidable opponent in an unfamiliar subject, ATK Mohun Bagan will begin because the underdogs of their AFC Cup Inter-Zone semi-final towards FC Nassaf of Uzbekistan right here on Wednesday.
ATK Mohun Bagan are with out central defender Sandesh Jingan, who joined Croatian membership Sibenik after a 1-1 draw with Bashundhara Kings that noticed the Indian facet end as South Asian zonal champions.
Another heavyweight Hugo Baumos has additionally been dropped from the squad to make manner for Joni Kouko, a newly signed midfielder who performed all three of Finland’s matches at UEFA Euro 2020 earlier this yr. had appeared.
The 2020 Uzbekistan Super League runners-up will play a make-or-break conflict within the acquainted environment of Markazi Stadium, a venue the place they’ve tasted defeat simply twice in 11 residence matches this season, together with their 3-2 win over FC of Turkmenistan. Including victory. Ahl within the final spherical of the continental match.
In distinction, ATK Mohun Bagan have needed to journey by way of Dubai to advance to subsequent month’s inter-zone ultimate towards Hong Kong’s Le Mans FC, and have been out of home league motion since March, having performed three AFC Cup teams. There are stage fixtures. His solely aggressive motion in additional than six months got here in August.
Despite the dearth of aggressive preparatory matches, Antonio López Habas’s facet is anticipated to make up for it in expertise and ambition.
The star attacking duo of Roy Krishna and David Williams have traveled after scoring three of the group’s six objectives within the group stage, whereas goalkeeper Amarinder Singh might be aiming to make a optimistic begin to life at ATK Mohun Bagan.
Fans of the Kolkata-based group, at the least, could be hoping for a much better consequence than the earlier Indian group venturing into Karshi for an AFC Cup conflict, which noticed Dempo 9-0 within the group stage in 2011. Had to face defeat. .
Nasaf matches are match, targeted and in kind. Chasing the trophy, a decade after the membership received in 2011, the orderly nature of Ruzikul Berdeev’s outfit is underscored by the truth that there was no change within the group that efficiently navigated the Central Asian zonal ultimate final month.
The Serbian pair of Marko Stanojevic and Andrija Kaluderovic – each objective scorers towards the Ahl – are well-known to followers outdoors Uzbekistan, however Nassaf’s power lies of their deep pool of younger native expertise, together with Sherzod Nasrulev, Khusain Norachev , Akmal Mozgovoy and Khusandin Alikulov. All underneath 25, and all spectacular within the competitors up to now.
Berdyaev’s expenses have proved not possible to include in Asia this season, with a mean of 67 % possession in his 4 appearances and 21 photographs on objective and a number of objectives in each match.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
