What changes should Antonio Habas make for East Bengal before next AFC Champions League Two clash

Red & Gold Brigade held a 2-2 draw in their ACL Two opener

East Bengal were able to play out an entertaining 2-2 draw against Al-Hussein in their opening match of the 2026-27 AFC Champions League Two group stages on Wednesday (16 September, 2026). The Torchbearers actually had an inspired start to the game, going 2-0 up in the first half itself thanks to goals from Dani Ramirez and Anwar Ali.

However, Antonio Habas’ side wasn’t able to thrive under the intense pressure that the hosts put them through after the break. A few lapses in concentration allowed Al-Hussein to score two unanswered goals in the second half, fighting their way to salvage a point.

For East Bengal, it wasn’t exactly the worst of results, as getting a point from a challenging ACL Two away game is always a pretty good thing – but it wasn’t exactly one to delight Habas either.

The Spanish gaffer must’ve been frustrated with elements of East Bengal’s second half display and how they weren’t able to hold onto their two-goal lead to get a win to start their Asian campaign. Habas is probably going to learn about his side’s strengths and weaknesses at the continental stages with this performance.

That should allow him to make the necessary changes and tweaks to his system or personnel to help add more steel to his side’s structure for them to carve out more efficient performances going forward. Here, we look at the changes that Antonio Habas should make for East Bengal before the next ACL Two clash.

Better protection for the full-backs

East Bengal didn’t really have it easy against the Al-Hussein attackers at all in their 2026-27 ACL Two opener, because the hosts got way too many chances to convert – especially in the second half. The Jordan heavyweights realised the kind of space that they could penetrate through the wide areas, which gave them confidence to take on the East Bengal full-backs. Hardik Bhatt made a sloppy error to gift them the chance for Mahmoud Al-Mardi’s equaliser.

Later on, Sandeep Mandi was not able to track the run of Ahmad Assaf as he barged into the box to score the equaliser for the hosts. The East Bengal full-backs looked vulnerable all game long, with the Al-Hussein wingers getting past them with relative ease before being able to send in dangerous crosses into the box – many of which were thwarted by the sturdy Anwar Ali and Diego Zivulic.

However, Habas can’t allow his full-back areas to be this scattered and exposed in the future AFC Champions League Two matches. He needs to urge his wingers to be able to track back diligently to allow more protection for his wide defenders. If the wingers are able to help double up on opposition wingers and cover for their full-backs, then the defenders could be encouraged to go for tackles or interceptions to win back possession.

But unless the full-backs get a bit more security in terms of protection from those in front of them, they will probably continue to be placed under intense pressure, and that can result in more sloppy errors that can cost East Bengal.

Need for more reactiveness in the midfield

East Bengal actually had a really promising start to their ACL Two opener, pressing their opponents nicely, and the midfielders also did well in progressing the ball forward swiftly. However, as their energy levels started to dip, the Red & Gold Brigade players showed a desire to basically sit back and soak up pressure rather than amp up the pressure on the Al-Hussein players. The hosts were allowed to control most of the possession and move the ball around efficiently inside East Bengal’s half without any intense pressure from the Red & Gold Brigade stars.

That strategy can definitely come back to haunt East Bengal in future ACL Two matches. They cannot just let opposition sides dictate the tempo of the game at their own will and keep most of the possession. The fact that they conceded two goals itself showed that East Bengal are not defensively strong enough yet to be able to hold onto leads.

Hence, there must be more emphasis on the midfielders to be more reactive to threats inside their half. The likes of Mohammed Rashid, Jeakson Singh and even Dani Ramirez have to work harder in closing down spaces for opposition midfielders, putting them under pressure when they have the ball.

They cannot make it easy for the midfielders to get the ball forward and should look to keep the opponents on their toes whenever they have the ball inside the East Bengal half. That kind of reactiveness can help panic the opposition players, causing them to make misplaced passes or play backward passes –losing their attacking rhythm and making it difficult for them to create big chances consistently.

Ruthlessness on the counter-attacks

One major moment of regret for East Bengal that happened in the Al-Hussein clash was late in the first half. With the Torchbearers holding a 2-0 lead, Jay Gupta went through the left wing and sent in a brilliant pass into the middle to Edmund Lalrindika. The India international just had the goalkeeper to beat a few yards away from the goal, but inexplicably just powered the ball over the goal. That just summed up how sloppy East Bengal still are in terms of finishing off their counter-attack chances.

The East Bengal players had a few more chances to create on counter-attacks in the second half. They ended up wasting all their opportunities, with the players failing to either find the final pass or finish off chances efficiently enough.

The reality for East Bengal is that they need to rely on goals from counter-attacks and swift breaks to grab positive results in the ACL Two. Hence, Habas probably needs his players to start working overtime on learning how to be clinical at the end of such counter-attacking moves.

He’ll probably work hard in training to get the players to be sharper under pressure, finishing off chances from such swift breaks more effectively. Habas really needs his forward players to be much more ruthless in converting opportunities more efficiently than they have in recent games. If they are able to improve their final product from the transitions, East Bengal can be a real unpredictable force for teams in the ACL Two and grab better results going forward in the group stages.

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