Sergio Lobera urges Mohun Bagan to be more clinical in front of goal ahead of crunch ISL 2025-26 clash against Inter Kashi

The Mariners eye a strong win against the Banaras side

Mohun Bagan are desperate to regain their match-winning momentum when they host Inter Kashi in their next 2025-26 Indian Super League (ISL) clash at the Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata on Tuesday (12 May, 2026). After dropping points in their last game against FC Goa, the Mariners need a win to stay strongly alive in the ISL title race ahead of their crunch Kolkata derby against title rivals, East Bengal.

Even though the Mariners are facing an Inter Kashi who lost their head coach Antonio Habas and are in 10th place, Sergio Lobera is not taking this game lightly.

He stated: “I don’t believe that Inter Kashi is going to be a weak opponent; their circumstances might not be the best, but we’ll play against a good opponent. We must give our 100%, if we consider this as an easy game, it’ll be a big mistake.”

“We can’t win the game if we can’t give our 100%, we need to respect our opponents. This is the point to get the points we need to get to our confidence. I cannot have our players be overconfident for the game because that would be dangerous for us,” Sergio Lobera also added.

Goal difference factor in 2025-26 ISL title race

The 2025-26 ISL title race could be decided on goal difference if Mohun Bagan and East Bengal finish the campaign on the same points. With the Red & Gold Brigade boasting a bigger goal difference, Lobera was asked about this and if his side is lacking a creative boost. H

He explained: “We indeed know that the goal difference would be very important this season as the format of the league is different compared to other seasons. We have three more games to play, and we need to put all our focus on getting the points from those games because if we get that, we do not need to think about the goal difference. We generate plenty of chances; maybe in the last two games, we didn’t have too many chances, but we had a clear chance to score the second goal.”

“We must be more clinical in the final third, I don’t think us missing some players in one position could be an excuse for us. When you are playing against FC Goa, you won’t have plenty of chances because they’re a good opponent with a very good defensive structure. You need to take advantage of the 3-4 chances you get. We have three games ahead, we must improve in certain aspects, and we can improve in a lot of things. We need to look to get the points we need to finish the top of the table, which is the ultimate target for us,” he also added.

Need for Mohun Bagan to do better from set-pieces

Sergio Lobera also insists that his side needs to be more clinical in converting from set-pieces, especially from corners.

Sergio Lobera claimed: “For sure, set-pieces are very important in football. You can see in games that there are times to change some aspects, and set-pieces can be vital for us in those situations. We need to improve on that. It’s impossible to have 17 corners against Mumbai, nine in the last one and not score once. When you have the profile of players like us, you need to take advantage of that.”

“Our assistant coach is working hard on that, and I’m responsible as a coach for this. We need to improve, because these kinds of actions in football can change everything when teams are in an equal situation. Some of the times, they can allow us to score these kinds of goals, change the result and also change the position of the table. This is one of the things we need to improve, but there are also other aspects we must improve upon,” he further quipped.

Lalengmawia Ralte’s importance and fitness situation

When asked if Lalengmawia Ralte (Apuia) can start playing entire 90 minutes for Mohun Bagan against Inter Kashi, after he was substituted at half-time against FC Goa.

Sergio Lobera stated: “Let’s see about that. In the last game, the three substitutions were forced for me. One was Apuia because he could only play 45 minutes. Thapa asked for the substitution, and we wanted to prevent something serious. Sahal also asked for it. Now, we need to be careful because Apuia is coming back from injuries and we only had two days to recover from the last game.  We need to think about this, and we need to try to avoid injuries, as we have three very important games. Maybe some players, if there are risks of injuries, I need to think about that.”

“We’ve only had one training session after the Goa match, and I need to check the players’ fitness before preparing the best XI for the next game. I don’t need to speak about how important Apuia is for us. Without him, we lack balance. Without the ball,, he’s amazing and also with the ball, he’s amazing. In football, to have players who are very good in both sides is so difficult. You have some players who are better in defensive situations and others who are better with the ball. It’s not easy to find a balance like this that we get with Apuia. But we have a very good squad, and it’s not fair for me to use Apuia’s absence as his excuse. If we don’t use him, we need to look to win games,” he added.

Importance of mental fortitude and Kolkata derby prospect

When asked if Mohun Bagan need to improve their mental fortitude to claw their way to winning the ISL title race.

The Spaniard answered: “The mental situation is important at this point of the season. You need to be hungry and manage some situations better. But the confidence of the players sometimes comes when you need a clear understanding of what to do on the pitch. In some periods, when you play for 90 minutes, everything is not amazing. You need to suffer as a family together, and tactical solutions can help the players to approach games in a good mental situation, so that is very important too.”

Finally, when asked about the upcoming Kolkata Derby against East Bengal and if he’ll rest some players against Inter Kashi because of that, Sergio Lobera replied: “If I think about the derby, then I think that will be a big mistake, then maybe we won’t win the Inter Kashi game, which we must win. I need to think about the best XI for the next game to try and win the game. If we’re thinking in the next game and not putting a focus on this one, we are going to have problems,” he finished off.”

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