Our commitment is to get three points, says Manuel Cascallana

Mohun Bagan asst. coach Manuel Cascallana also shared his views on the Bengaluru FC contingent.

Mohun Bagan will aim to stay alive in the Indian Super League (ISL) Shield race when the travel to face Bengaluru FC at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Thursday (April 11). The Mariners have to win this fixture to set up a grand ‘finale’ against Mumbai City in both their ultimate matches of the league stages and decide which team becomes the Shield champions.

How are Mohun Bagan coping without Antonio Habas’ presence?

With Antonio Habas yet to fully recover from an illness that has kept him sidelined for the last two games, his assistant coach Manuel Cascallana spoke to the media. He spoke about the Spaniard’s situation, saying: “Not having the leader in the squad is always a negative thing, that’s 100% sure. But we have two options, which is to compete and continue in our way or run away.

“We have to continue without him, he’s still a bit ill and is recovering well and fast. Hopefully he’ll be with us soon, but the players know the plans and instructions and we’re following the exact same. He continues being the boss, all the instructions are from him and I’m only transmitting them,” he added.

Added pressure on Mohun Bagan after Mumbai City’s win over Odisha?

When asked if there’s added pressure on Mohun Bagan after seeing Mumbai City recently defeat Odisha FC to go five points clear at the top of the ISL table, Cascallana explained: “The pressure is the same. Three days ago, we spoke about how we needed to win three more games. We won in Delhi. Now we’ll play against Bengaluru and then we’ll play Mumbai. The pressure is always there, be it on a player or coaches. You always have pressure, but this is a good pressure and not a bad one. We have to manage with this, it’s our job. We have to fight for three points against Bengaluru.”

Cascallana wary of Bengaluru’s quality

Manuel Cascallana was also questioned whether the Mariners fancy facing this out-of-form Bengaluru side, who have experienced problems after reaching the ISL final last season. The Spaniard stated: “It’s going to be very difficult. They have really good players, and have a lot of international players like us. They have Nikhil Poojary, Chinglensana Singh, Suresh Singh and Sunil Chhetri.

“Of course, I have to talk about Chhetri – everyone knows him. They also have very good international players like Ryan Williams, Javi Hernandez; Slavko Damjanovic played here last season. They’re going to be a very difficult team to face, but we have our weapons. We know how to attack and defend against them – now it’s time to play there and win the three points,” he added.

Bengaluru unlikely to make things easier for Mohun Bagan

Finally, the tactician insisted that Bengaluru are unlikely to make things easy for Mohun Bagan just because they have nothing more to play for this season. He remarked: “You never know. They don’t have to fight for the playoffs spot, but have to fight for their pride and for their supporters to finish their season strongly.

“So we don’t know if they’ll be more dangerous or less dangerous. Tonight, we’ll see Jamshedpur against Goa – with the same situation. Jamshedpur aren’t fighting for anything but playing in front of people, while Goa fights for the second position. For us, it’s the same. It doesn’t matter if they don’t have nothing to play for. Our commitment is to get the three points,” he concluded.

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