Mohun Bagan's Jose Molina highlights 'threats' ahead of Kolkata derby against East Bengal in ISL

Jose Molina also praised his opponents ahead of their crucial clash.

Jose Molina’s Mohun Bagan looks to do another Indian Super League (ISL) double over rivals East Bengal when they host them in the Kolkata Derby at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium, Guwahati on Saturday (11 January). The Mariners can extend their lead at the top of the ISL table with a big win, but equally as important to help gain bragging rights for their fans by embarrassing their city rivals.

Despite Mohun Bagan being atop the league table and ten places above East Bengal, Jose Molina refuses to believe that his side has any kind of advantage heading into the match. Jose Molina stated: “It won’t be easy for us to defeat East Bengal, it’ll be a very difficult match. We’ll have to work hard and we are going to need to give our best performance to beat them.

“We are ready to do that, and hopefully we can do it. But it will not be easy at all. We are going to play in Guwahati, so of course will miss our fans and hopefully, some of them can be there to help us. It’s the most important match for them and we’ll try to do our best and make them happy by winning the three points.

“We are at the top of the table and they are in 11th position and there might be a major difference of points. That is because of how both teams have played in the ISL so far. In my opinion, whatever we’ve done in the ISL so far doesn’t matter. The important thing is what we can do tomorrow. If we can have a good match and can play to our best, I’m confident that our players can win the match,” Jose Molina also added.

When asked if he’s concerned about East Bengal’s ability to come back into the matches in the second half after they made it 2-2 against Mumbai City in the last match, Jose Molina stated: “The match is always a 90 minutes match. For me, it’s how my team plays to their best in every match. If my team is at 100%, it doesn’t matter what the other team does. What I’m thinking is to help my players, it doesn’t matter what other teams can do.

“We focus on ourselves, we have to play against different teams and East Bengal tomorrow. We know how they play, how they attack and defend and have some idea and our game plan against them. The most important is always our team, to help them and try to play 90 minutes at their 100%, not for 20 minutes, not at the beginning or the end of the match. We need 100% of our players for 90 minutes. That is what we’ll try to do for tomorrow’s match,” he also quipped.

Jose Molina also believes his side needs to control their emotions in what could be a heated encounter, as he stated: “I have to try to be professional and make decisions from my professional point of view. But the feelings and emotions are always there, tomorrow they will be there. It’s similar that during the match, on the pitch, we have to control our emotions and be professional. We have to make decisions during the match and make them from a professional point of view.

“You have to try to control, but maybe you can’t control in some moments. I trust all my players, I’m sure they know and it’s part of my job to tell them to stay calm. We need to focus on trying to win the match and hopefully we can have a good match and be more successful than East Bengal and we can beat them,” Jose Molina finished.

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