ISL 2025-26: Sergio Lobera warns Mohun Bagan SG players of complacency ahead of Mohammedan SC clash

Mohun Bagan SG will eye their third consecutive win

Mohun Bagan SG are looking to get their third straight win in the 2025-26 Indian Super League (ISL) campaign, when they face off in a mini-Kolkata derby against Mohammedan SC at the Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata on Saturday (28 February, 2026).

The Mariners have won both their matches in compelling fashion under Sergio Lobera so far and face a Mohammedan side that is yet to pick up a point in the ongoing campaign.

Despite the apparent disparity between the two sides, Lobera is refusing to take the Mohammedan SC threat lightly.

Ahead of the match, he claimed: “If we think like that (about match being easy), we won’t win the league for sure.”

“We need to have maximum respect for all opponents; every game can be difficult because some things can happen. If we are overconfident, then we will not be winning it. It’s important to give our 100% with approach and respect to the opponent, and we need to show on the pitch that we’re better than them,” he also added.

Areas of improvement for Mohun Bagan SG

When asked about which areas Mohun Bagan SG can improve upon going forward, Lobera stated: “I’m very happy with the work my players are doing. It’s a new process for them and as a coach I want to implement my style of play and my idea. The players are doing an amazing job and finally football is about players. When you have very good players, everything is easier. I’m very happy with the team’s performance in the last two games.”

“We have players with a winning mentality, and we know that we can improve. About how we can improve, we need to learn to kill games before, as we have chances to do. The most important that we are consistently creating chances and dominate games. We are improving with every game, and we need to show more improvement in the third game,” he further added.

Refusal to underestimate Mohammedan SC

Lobera refused to entertain claims on Mohun Bagan SG rotating their XI for the Mohammedan and clamped down on his belief that it will not be an easy game for his side.

He explained: “When you have only 13 teams to become champions, we cannot take risks with rotations. My job is to put the best first XI which can help us compete against opponents. My expectations are different from others. I have amazing players with very good squad and after tomorrow, you’ll see us field our best XI.”

“Against Jamshedpur, Mohammedan had their chances and Jamshedpur only won one game. They had chances on counterattacks against Jamshedpur. We might be favorites for the game, but we need to respect the opponents. They have the tools to compete, and we need to be ready for that, and if we’re not in our 100%, we can have problems against them. Every game is difficult. You can have favorites for the long-term, but everything can happen in one game,” he also added.

The need to improve goal difference

Finally, when asked if he’s concerned about his side not being at their ruthless best in terms of converting chances and improving their goal difference.

Lobera said: “That is one of the things we can improve but the most important thing is that the team keeps generating chances. The goal difference could be crucial at the end of the season, but hopefully we won’t need that.”

“To score more goals is the consequence of what we do before that. I’m happy with the players performance and maybe we can improve in converting chances. But scoring two goals against Kerala and Chennaiyin is a good number. We could’ve perhaps scored more yes, but we are in the way of improving our goal-scoring accuracy,” he finished with.

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