Kolkata : Mohun Bagan will now shift focus back to I League . The Mariners will play two back to back away matches against Mumbai FC and Bengaluru FC . The I League champions have so far played 4 matches winning 3 and drawing one against arch rivals East Bengal . Bagan have so far garnered 10 points from 4 matches .
Meanwhile , Brazilian Luciano Sabrosa have picked up an injury on the neck against Shandong Luneng FC in the ACL Qualifier Round 2 match last Tuesday . Luciano got injured while going for a tackle with a Shandong striker. The Mohun Bagan team management did not find anything to worry about as Luciano continued in the match and played for the full 90 minutes. But after reaching Kolkata on Thursday morning the Brazilian felt stiffness in his neck. A quick MRI was done today and the team management is eagerly waiting for the report.
Balwant Singh is also nursing an injury as the star striker could not travel to China with the team due to a groin strain . The striker from Punjab has now suffered a knee injury. He too was taken for a MRI. Reports are about to come soon for both the players.
Bagan coach Sanjoy Sen did not seemed much worried about the show cause notice issued by AIFF ,” Let me get the letter in hand. Then I will comment on what shall I do after discussing with the officials. Now I am keeping all these issues aside and concentrating for the two big away fixtures in the I-league against Mumbai FC and Bengaluru FC which is to be played on the 10th and 13th of February respectively”.
The gaffer also stressed that his side will now focus on the I-league and AFC Cup matches which is scheduled to begin from 24th February. He claimed he had a chat with his players after the match against Shandong. “
Commenting on the debacle in the ACL qualifier , he cited the example of the 1998 Mohun Bagan team that had also conceded 6 goals . “Conceding 6 goals is not a big deal. Brazil had also conceded 7 goals against Germany in 2014 FIFA World Cup. Mohun Bagan have conceded the same number of goals in 1998 . It can happen to any team in modern day football .”
Except for Sony Norde , none of the Bagan players looked to be impressive . The Haitian also feel the team needs to shrug off the embarrassment and look focus on the forthcoming I League matches ,“ We need to focus on the next two I-league matches away from home. If we can grab full points against the two quality sides we will inch a lot closer to the title”.
The Green and Maroon footballers had a gym session today at practice and then a light a warm up session in the club ground.