The Indian fans of the ISL could not have it better in the ISL final. Two of the most attacking teams, Bengaluru FC and FC Goa have made it to the Mumbai Football Arena for the finals. The choice of the stadium though is surprising given that it can accommodate only 9000 spectators. There are reports of many fans travelling the distance from Bengaluru and Goa with no tickets available.
The coaches, Carles aQuadrat of Bengaluru and Sergio Lobera of FC Goa have spent their younger life of Barcelona and are cut out of the same cloth. However, there is a marked difference in their approach to the game. While Cuadrat has his boys defend in numbers, and attack when it suits them, Lobera’s men believe in keeping possession of the ball and looking for openings to attack. It will be interesting to see how the two teams play in the finals even though Bengaluru has got the better of Goa in both their league matches this season.
Bengaluru FC
The Blues started the season with a run of eleven unbeaten matches. They were handicapped when Miku, their main striker was injured mid-season but Sunil Chhetri took over the job of scoring goals. Now Miku is back and is and is among the goals. With Udanta Singh, Dimas Delgado, Xisco Hernande, and Sunil Chhetri able to switch flanks and play in any position in the midfield they have demonstrated wide flexibility in their ranks.
Juanan Fernandez, Rahul Bheke and Harmanjot Khabra have their work cut out for them. They will have to keep the Goan forward Ferran Corominas quiet and feed the ball to the forward line to counter-attack.
FC Goa
Sergio Lobera had his team in the semifinals last season also. They lost to Chennaiyin Fc because of a poor defence. He has set things right this season by having Mourtada Fall and Carlos Pena as the centre backs. Ahead of them, Ahmed Jahou and Lenny Rodrigues who play as defensive mid-fielders have done a great job of negating marauding opposition forwards. Ahmed Jahouh, in particular, has been key to FC Goas attacking game with his pinpoint passes to the forwards.
Ferran Corominas with 16 goals and 7 assists is on his way to a second successive golden boot in the ISL. Edu Bedia has himself scored 7 goals and hs 5 assists to his name. Jackichand on the right can make life difficult for the opposition defence with his guile and speed. With Brendon Fernandes playing on the left the Goans are formidable once they get into their stride.
Head to head
The two teams have come head to head only four times in the ISL. Bengaluru have prevailed over FC Goa three times in their four meetings and Fc Goa has won one game. It is pertinent to note that Bengaluru Fc has beaten Fc Goa in both their encounters in the league stage this season and with three goals to nil in their last game.
Current form of the two teams
Bengaluru FC has faltered towards the end of the season. Thye conceded four defeats in their last six matches. Three of those defeats have been in the league stages and one in the first leg of the semifinal against Northeast Utd. FC Goa has also conceded two defeats in contrast to four wins in their last six matches. While the first defeat was substantial at the hands of Bengaluru FC, their second defeat came against Mumbai City FC when they had already won their first leg 5-1.
Prediction
Despite their head to head record with Bengaluru FC, I like the style in which FC Goa plays. FC Goa has made it to the semifinals four times out of the five years that the ISL is being played. This is the second final for both the teams and both of them have lost the final to Chennaiyin FC. I will predict a win for FC Goa outright. I don't believe the match will go into extra time with both the teams looking to score.
Score: Bengaluru FC 1: FC Goa 2
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