And so, the Bengaluru juggernaut rolls on. In their fifth year of existence, the Jindal Steel Works-owned club will be competing for their fifth trophy.
Two I-League titles and two Federation Cups have preceded the Indian Super League final and as fans may wistfully long for days and teams long gone, the truth is that iteration of the Blues is the strongest that they have ever been.
They ran through the group stage, accumulating 40 points from 18 games, finishing eight ahead of their nearest competitors, incidentally Chennaiyin. To put this domination into perspective, BFC gained the highest points per the game in the ISL league stage ever, with 2.22 points per game, eclipsing Goa’s 25 points from 14 games in 2015-16 (1.78 ppg).
Battle of the strikers
Not only is this game a battle for the title, it is also a face-off between two of India’s best strikers. Sunil Chhetri, national icon and Indian team as well as BFC captain, is in red-hot form, with 13 goals to his name, including a hat-trick in the semifinals against Pune City.
Jeje Lalpekhlua, the Mizo sniper, laid down the gauntlet the very next day as he scored two against Goa. That took the Hniathal-born forward’s tally to nine for the season, easily his best in Chennaiyin colours.
This isn’t just about BFC vs CFC, it’s also about the two forwards. Team-mates at international level, Jeje’s name often crops up in discussions around Chhetri’s successor and there are many who will be hoping he can fill the prolific forward’s shoes when the latter does decide to call it a day.
The Chennaiyin forward is no stranger to winning things at the Kanteerava, having snatched the title from the jaws of second place while at Mohun Bagan. His double at the Marina Arena meant that he broke a run of six games without a goal but he will have to produce another big-match performance if Chennaiyin hope to upset the odds. Not necessarily the most consistent, Jeje will have to prove that he can take over Sunil’s mantle and this is as good a time as any to step up to the plate.
Count Chennaiyin out at your own peril, despite the statistics. That backline of Jerry Lalrinzuala, Henrique Sereno, Mailson Alves and Inigo Calderon has let in only 20 goals all season, second only to Bengaluru in terms of goals let in.
The biggest threat to Bengaluru’s goal will come from set-pieces where the likes of Sereno and Alves will be bombarding the opposition box to get one past Gurpreet Singh Sandhu. Apart from the centre-backs, Raphael Augusto, Dhanpal Ganesh and Bikramjit Singh should also not be forgotten.
Also, it must be remembered that Chennaiyin beat BFC 2-1 at the same ground on December 17. That night, Chennaiyin fully deserved their victory with Dhanpal Ganesh notching up a 88th-minute winner.
John Gregory has made his team a compact unit, one willing to grind teams down and hitting them on the counter. Chennaiyin build from the back and even though BFC won 3-1 in the reverse leg, they will take nothing for granted.
Defensive worries
Albert Roca’s big head-ache will be around the fact that two of his most trusted full-backs are out, Subhashish Bose through suspension and Harmanjot Khabra through injury. Bose, who has been one of the pillars of Bengaluru’s defence will leave a gap on the left-side of defence and it is interesting to see if Roca will opt for the straight swap.
On the left, Nishu Kumar would be the like-for-like swap, having played 55 minutes against Abahani Dhaka in the AFC Cup clash. However, Roca has started the youngster only three times in the league this season and may go for a three-man defence involving John Johnson, Juanan Gonzalez and Rahul Bheke.
Apart from the usual suspects, two men who will be key to their teams are Gregory Nelson and Udanta Singh. While Chennaiyin will be busy marking Chhetri and Miku, Udanta’s burst of pace is well-known. The Manipuri has provided five assists this time and Jerry v Udanta will be a fine battle to witness.
Nelson has been one of the main creators for his team this term, and the left-sided player will look to poke holes in BFC’s defence and provide for Jeje, Augusto and Francis Fernandes.
Bengaluru, who haven’t lost since matchday 10, are the favourites going into this one. A habit of winning will hold them in good stead when they go up against Chennaiyin, aiming to win their first ISL title. Chennaiyin are no slouches themselves, and are more than capable of halting the serial winners, in a bid to win their second. Irrespective, the two best teams in the league stage have made it to the final and the end result should be a spectacle, irrespective of the scoreline.
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