Expected to be a fantastic 2022/23 ISL final in Fatorda Stadium at Goa, second-time finalist ATK Mohun Bagan lock horns with 2018/19 winners Bengaluru FC for the honor this weekend.
ATKMB vs BFC Match Details
Date: Saturday, 18 March 2023
Time: 19:30 (IST)
Venue: Fatorda Stadium, Goa
ATKMB vs BFC Match Preview
ATK Mohun Bagan
Both sides involved in the ISL final made massive turnarounds in the league round to reach this stage. ATK Mohun Bagan looked to be on the fringes due to a lack of goals and injuries on the side but managed to cement their playoff position with three wins on the bounce in the last league games and then defeating Odisha FC in the eliminator. The semi-final ties against Hyderabad FC brought a glaring challenge knowing Nizams eliminated them last season. Facing the best defense in the league, ATKMB drew 0-0 in both legs but struck the holders out in the 4-3 shootout victory at home. Juan Ferrando’s men showed their decisive attitude at the crucial stage of the campaign to reach the final. They will face the classy Bengaluru FC in Goa with a lot of confidence and nothing to fear. In the franchise’s first season in the league, ATKMB reached the ISL final but were defeated by Mumbai City FC so a huge task lies for them on Sunday to make it right this time out.
Bengaluru FC
Bengaluru FC is on the cusp of producing the most inspiring story in ISL history. In contrast to their opponents in the final, the Blues were not in a playoff conversation at all as they won only three games in the first part of the season and lay among the bottom four sides on the table. Just when Simon Grayson seemed to have running out of ideas to rescue another faltering season, his switch to a back-three and striking the right-striking pair with Roy Krishna and the talented Sivasakhti Narayanan did more than just steadying the ship. They stitched together a staggering 11-game winning run to completely flip the campaign for the Blues. In the semi-finals, they beat Shield winners Mumbai City FC in the first leg having stripped their invincibility record in the league phase but lost 2-1 at home leveling the aggregate score. A nerve-wracking shootout followed with BFC winning 9-8 at the end. The final will be the crowning jewel of the work they have built this season.
Recent Form
ATKMB: DDWWW
BFC: LWWWW
ATKMB vs BFC Team News
ATK Mohun Bagan
Juan Ferrando said he has a fit team to go by but Ashique Kuruniyan needs some late assessment to get involved for the final. Kiyan Nassiri was replaced by Liston Colaco at the end of first-half despite performing well. The manager will have a dilemma to make the choice between the two to start the game if the 22-year-old has no injury concerns. Pritam Kotal will play in his fourth ISL final having won the trophy twice earlier after scoring the winning penalty in the shootout.
Bengaluru FC
Simon Grayson is unlikely to make any changes to the starting eleven with the constant back-three of Aleksandar Jovanovic, Sandesh Jhingan and Bruno Edgar. Alan Costa is a lucrative option from the bench to solidify matters later on in the match if required with Sunil Chhetri being the same in finishing chances at the other end. Roy Krishna, Javi Hernandez, Jhingan and Prabir Das were playing for beaten finalists ATK Mohun Bagan in the 2020/21 season and have the chance to defeat their former club to finally grab the trophy with Bengaluru FC.
ATKMB vs BFC Predicted Lineups
ATKMB: Vishal Kaith; Asish Rai, Pritam Kotal, Slavko Damjanovic, Subhasish Bose; Carl Mchugh, Glan Martins; Manvir Singh, Hugo Boumous, Kiyan Nassari; Dimitri Petratos
BFC: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu; Aleksandar Jovanovic, Sandesh Jhingan, Bruno Edgar; Prabir Das, Rohit Kumar, Javi Hernandez, Suresh Wangjam, Roshan Singh; Roy Krisha, Sivasakhti Narayanan
ATKMB vs BFC Head to head
ATKMB - 4
Draw - 1
BFC - 1
(In Indian Super League)
ATKMB vs BFC Dream11 Team Prediction
GK: Kaith (8.5)
DEF: Asish (9), Jhingan (8), Kotal (8.5)
MID: Roshan (8.5), R Kumar (8), Boumous (9), Javi (9)
FW: Krishna (9), Petratos (9), Sivasakhti (8.5)
Vice-captain: Dimitri Petratos
Captain: Javi Hernandez
Stay tuned to Fantasy Football for upcoming matches.
