'Our idea, evidently, is to win' - East Bengal head coach Antonio Habas ahead of Al-Seeb match in ACL Two 2026-27

East Bengal will face Al-Seeb Club of Oman in their next ACL 2 fixture.

East Bengal FC will be looking for their first three points of the 2026-27 AFC Champions League Two campaign when they face off against Al-Seeb Club of Oman at the Al-Seeb Stadium on Tuesday, 27 October (2026) at 9:30 PM IST.

East Bengal FC surrendered a 2-1 lead to Al-Shorta at home in their most recent AFC Champions League 2 game. Despite David Lalhlansanga’s two goals in the first half, the Torchbearers gave up twice in the second half. Al-Shorta defeated East Bengal 2-3 at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata with goals in the 50th and 52nd minutes of the match.

The Torchbearers will be facing an Al-Seeb side that hasn’t picked up any points from the group stages so far, and will be looking to maintain their positive moment to get maximum points from their travels to Oman.

However, Al-Seeb’s performance has been lower than East Bengal FC’s. The Oman club’s last match was a 0-3 home loss against Al-Hussein. Al-Seeb has yet to win either of their two AFC Champions League Two games.

Before the all-important, must win clash against Al-Seeb in ACL Two 2026-27 group stage match in Oman, East Bengal head coach Antonio Habas and midfielder Dani Ramirez have addressed the media.

Here is the pre-match press conference of East Bengal ahead of the Al-Seeb match ACL Two 2026-27!

Habas’ thoughts on Al-Seeb and the upcoming match

The Spanish gaffer is ready for another continental challenge as East Bengal FC take on Al-Seeb in Oman in a must-win clash in the AFC Champions League Two 2026–27 campaign.

Habas stated: “Our idea, evidently, is to win the match, but we have to respect the opponent as well because the opponent has the same idea and the same proposal.”

“It’s a crucial match for both teams because both of us need to win to stay alive in this tournament. It’s a great opportunity for us to become the first Indian club to win an ACL Two game. We have to be focused through the 90 minutes and avoid defensive lapses.”

“I think we have a very competitive team. We have to have confidence in the competition because Indian clubs have not played in this competition before.”

“For us, it is another important step because the idea is to raise our level in another competition, not just in Indian competitions.”

“For us, I think that, against Al-Shorta and Al-Hussein, we had the opportunity to win. We did not deserve to lose or draw, and I hope that tomorrow there will be different things and different aspects of the game,” he added.

Habas’ comments on his team’s determination, concentration issues and goal-scoring opportunities

East Bengal FC head coach Antonio López Habas highlighted the areas in which his team needs to improve ahead of their clash against Al-Seeb to secure all three points.

Antonio Habas said: “I think we can win with the same goal that we scored against Al-Shorta. But the difference, I think, is that we have some issues. The magic word in football is balance. Without balance, you have no opportunity to win.”

“Especially in the two AFC matches, we have had problems. Determination pays off over time. In five minutes, we scored two goals against Al-Shorta. Concentration, focus on the match, because it is very difficult for a team like East Bengal.”

“Normally, there is no experience of playing in high-level competitions, only local competitions. This is the difference between one competition and Indian competitions. This is the difference because here you may have two, three, four or five players with more quality. More quality means one opportunity, one chance to score goals.”

“Maybe in India, we have four more opportunities and don’t score. That’s why I said before that this is maybe the last chance for both teams. And after this game, maybe we can dream,” he concluded.

Dani Ramírez on the match and East Bengal’s performance so far in the ACL Two 2026-27 campaign

Dani Ramírez is confident about East Bengal FC’s performances in the competition so far and believes they can defeat Al-Seeb to secure their first three points of the campaign. However, he stressed the need for the team to be more organised and defensively solid.

Ramírez said: “Yeah, like the coach said, I think it can be the most important game for both teams because we want to take the first three points. We could have taken these points before because we are showing that we are a good team and we are doing a very good job. I hope that tomorrow we can win, and it will be very good for us, for our confidence, and why not dream about the next steps in this competition.”

“We could’ve won a match in the ACL Two before, but we suffered due to concentration lapses. We are a well-settled unit and have played a lot of games this season. We’ve been creating a lot of chances. It’s all about capitalizing on your strengths and rectifying your past errors.”

“First of all, he said that we have a very good team, and nobody thought that we were going to lose against Al-Shorta and draw against Al-Hussein, but we did a very good job.”

“Like the coach said, we have to do better things in defence because, in my opinion, we are creating a lot of chances in attack. We are good.”

“But we have to be focused for the entire 90 minutes because it’s true that in this competition, if you are not focused for 90 minutes, someone can punish you, and you can lose or draw the game.”

“So, in my opinion, if we stay focused for 90 minutes, we can get these three points. I’ll take it,” he concluded.

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