I think that both teams deserve to arrive at the final, says Bengaluru FC’s Gerard Zaragoza after Durand Cup semis loss

Gerard Zaragoza also praised Bengaluru’s young talent Venka

Durand Cup champions from 2022, Bengaluru FC, failed to advance to the final of the 133rd IndianOil Durand Cup. Defending champions, Mohun Bagan Super Giant defeated Bengaluru FC, 4-3 on penalties in the second semi-final of the at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (VYBK) on Tuesday.

Mohun Bagan will now take on NorthEast United FC in the grand finale at the same venue on Saturday and aim for a record 18 titles while the Highlanders will look to land their first big silverware.

Mohun Bagan were trailing by a 2-0 goal margin until the 67th minute of the game. The home side got a penalty after a foul in the box by Bengaluru FC defender Rahul Bheke on Manvir Singh, which Dimitri Petratos converted. In the 84th minute, a stunner from Anirudh Thapa beat Gurpreet Singh Sandhu again, helping his team to equalize.

In the penalty shootout, Vishal Kaith, the hero of the quarterfinal against Punjab FC, delivered another heroic performance by saving two penalties from Halicharan Narzary and Aleksandar Jovanović, which helped his team reach the final. Bengaluru FC head coach Gerard Zaragoza shared his thoughts on the match in the post-match press conference.

On Mohun Bagan

Commenting on the opponent, Gerard Zaragoza remarked, “It’s football. I think that both teams deserve to arrive at the final. Both teams play good football. But finally, only one can arrive and the penalties dictate that Mohan Bagan is in the final. I wish them very good luck. Because they deserve it, but I think that my team also deserves to be in the final.”

Clear foul on Alberto Noguera inside the box, the referee did not whistle

In the 12th minute of the match, Bengaluru FC got a golden opportunity to score, when Sunil Chhetri had a one-on-one chance against Mohun Bagan goalkeeper Vishal Kaith, but failed to convert, as Mohan Bagan defender Alberto Rodríguez intercepted him.

On the rebound, Alberto Noguera had an opportunity to score, but Anirudh Thapa’s tackle from behind denied him. The Bengaluru FC players appealed for a penalty, which the referee denied.

Commenting on this, coach Gerard Zaragoza said, “At 2-0, we had everything under control. I don’t want to talk about mistakes, but there was a clear foul on Alberto Noguera, and the referee didn’t whistle. The ball finished inside the box.”

Bengaluru FC had another solid opportunity when Edgar Méndez’s header was saved by Vishal Kaith. “At 2-1, with this great team that Mohun Bagan have, it’s difficult to hold them back and prevent them from scoring. But even then, we had an amazing chance with Edgar Méndez to make it 3-1. Finally, they equalized at 2-2,” Gerard Zaragoza added.

Venkatesh has a lot of quality but needs more hard work to be fully prepared.

Vinith Venkatesh, the 19-year-old footballer from Bengaluru FC, doubled the lead. When asked about the performance of the young footballer, coach Gerard Zaragoza opined that Venkatesh has a lot of quality but needs more hard work to be fully prepared.

“You can see his quality. He has a lot of potential. He is 19 years old, and I believe he deserves to be on the national team. But I’m happy that he is here with me. The thing is, he needs to work harder because he’s not ready yet. I still put him in because

“I think he needs these minutes to become a better player. But he’s on my team, and he started the season with us. Because I think that he needs this kind of minutes to be a better player. He started the season with us. And the reality is that he wins the possibility to play today, ” said Gerard Zaragoza.

The Pre-season title will not give him a spot in the Champions League

When asked about substitutions of Bengaluru FC, Gerard Zaragoza Zaragoza commented that it’s a pre-season tournament and winning the title wouldn’t secure a spot in the Champions League.

Gerard Zaragoza said, “We are in pre-season. We know this is the Durand Cup, and we understand its importance. But winning it doesn’t put us in the Champions League, right?

“So, we are in pre-season. We’ve said this since the first match we played. We are preparing the team for the ISL. The changes were necessary. Jorge Pereyra Díaz asked me to substitute him, but before that, Mohun Bagan had already started attacking us. It wasn’t because of the substitutions.”

Completely Ready for the ISL

Bengaluru FC will begin their Indian Super League (ISL) journey at home against East Bengal FC on 14th September 2024, at 7:30 PM.

When asked about the team’s plans for the ISL, Gerard Zaragoza commented, “We have three weeks, or three and a half weeks, before the first match. I think we’ve had a really good pre-season and great opponents. No one has beaten Bengaluru FC; we only lost on penalties. The thing is, we are completely ready. We have three weeks to fine-tune everything. We need to be better for the first match.”

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