Mumbai City are strong team at home, asserts Mohun Bagan boss Juan Ferrando

Juan Ferrando failed to give an insight on the injury status of Sahal Abdul Samad.

Mohun Bagan Super Giant aim to take a big stride forward in the Indian Super League (ISL) title race when they face defending league champions Mumbai City FC on Wednesday (20 December). The Mariners are still unbeaten in the ISL this season, but face their biggest challenge yet, in the form of a quality Mumbai City side.

Juan Ferrando confident!

Even though the Mariners did defeat Mumbai in the Durand Cup earlier this season, Juan Ferrando doesn’t believe that gives them an advantage heading into this ISL clash. He said: “It’s a different match than the Durand Cup game and this is of course a different competition.

“I’m confident in my team all the time. It’s important that we’re ready and we prepare our plan for the next match. We can’t think about the past, the Durand Cup was 3-4 months ago and they have even changed their coach. That was a different match than the upcoming one,” he added.

Does playing in the AFC Champions League help Mumbai?

The Spanish coach also believes that playing in the AFC Champions League will help the Islanders grow as a major team. He said: “Of course, if you play in the Champions League, the good things about playing in the intentional competition is that the club grows up while playing against big teams. The international competition is a good challenge for the club, the team and the players!”

Sahal Abdul Samad situation and plan for Greg Stewart

The tactician was also unable to give any update on the situation of injured midfielder Sahal Abdul Samad. He mentioned: “I haven’t met with the medical staff so I don’t know about the injured players.”

When asked if he has any particular plan to keep Mumbai City midfielder Greg Stewart quiet in the game, the mentor replied: “I never have special plans for one player. I trust in my team all the time. This is football, so I prepare my team in the defensive and offensive aspects. I never have plans for individual players because the most important is the plan of the team.”

Could Mumbai City’s draw to East Bengal end up helping the Mariners?

Mumbai City will come into this game after playing out a frustrating 0-0 draw against East Bengal at the Mumbai Football Arena, their home ground. Juan Ferrando was asked if that result could impact the Islanders’ morale heading into the big game against the Mariners.

“I think every match is different. In the last match, it’s true that they drew but they had a lot of opportunities and missed so many clear chances. This is the truth. In this case, I’m thinking about their team and my plan. Mumbai are a strong team at home and it’s difficult to play away. This is a good challenge for us,” he finished off with.

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