N OV 3 0 , 2 0 1 8 VOL.

IV

BENGALURU FC FC PUNE CITY

MISTER’S
Greetings, Bengaluru
We’re past the half-way stage in the League
and as coach, I cannot really have much to
complain about the way the team has turned
up and performed. Even on days when
things seem to slip away, the squad has
always found an answer, sometimes in
spectacular fashion as we saw in Guwahati
on Wednesday.
The draw against NorthEast United was one
we deserved for our will to never throw in
the towel. What made the night even more
special was that it marked Chencho’s first
goal for the club and it was a fair reward for
a player who has been working very hard for
the shirt.
Today’s a Sunday and I hope that all roads
have led to the Fortress where we take on
Mumbai City FC. At the time of writing this,
the visiting team have moved up to second
position on the table and that should be
enough to tell you the kind of task we are up
against today. They are on an unbeaten run
of six games where five among them have
been victories, and those numbers will only
give them increased confidence when they
step out on the pitch today.
Speaking of confidence, we are not short on
it either and it should be a very intriguing
contest between two teams who would like
to keep a pattern going. To be unbeaten is a
great feeling, but I’ve always maintained that
making the play-off stages is our priority.
I’ve often been asked at press conferences if
we like keeping our goals for late and I
always say that while it isn’t something we
plan, I’ll keep taking them if they keep
coming! I understand that it’s not good for
the heart, but football has trained all of us
well enough to be able to cope with drama.
We returned from Guwahati on Thursday
evening and have had two days to recover
and train for yet another key fixture and I’m
certain the team will do everything to make
your trip to the Fortress, worth. There’s been
a lot of talk about the difficult fixture
calendar and while there’s no denying it is
tough, it is what it is and we’ve got to learn to
manage these situations.
I would also like to extend a warm welcome
to Jorge Costa and his staff and I hope the
Fortress stays true to form and creates a
fantastic atmosphere. This is the second last
of our games before we take a big break, so
let’s make it memorable!
Love,
Carles Cuadrat

I
IN-FORM TEAMS
While Mumbai had a slow start to the
season with just one win in the opening
four games, Jorge Costa’s men have gone
on a six-match unbeaten run with five wins
and a draw - a club record. Meanwhile,
Chencho’s injury time equaliser in
Guwahati helped the Blues extend their
unbeaten start to the season to nine
games – a league record.
CONTRASTING STYLES
It will be a battle between two contrasting
styles as Mumbai, who have opted for a
physical approach will come up against
the Blues with a technical approach. A
tough tackling team, Mumbai are leading
the charts with 320 tackles from 10 games
compared to Bengaluru’s 186. In fact, they
haven’t shied away from committing fouls
and are second on that list as well.
PREVIEW
FIRST-EVER OPPONENT
FIRST-EVER DOUBLE
It was Mumbai City FC against whom the
Blues began their Indian Super League
journey last year. A 2-0 win at the Fortress
was what set Bengaluru up for a
record-breaking season where they went on
to claim 40 points. Interestingly, it was
against the Islanders that the Blues sealed
their first-ever double in the ISL with a 3-1
win at the Mumbai Football Arena.
Cuadrat’s men will hope to take motivation
from those games as they host an improved
Mumbai-side at the Fortress tonight.
NO GLOVE LOST
While the Blues have the most stubborn
defence in the league led by Golden-Glove
holder Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, the
Islanders boast of having the most clean
sheets (6) this season, with ex-BFC man
Amrinder Singh claiming five of those.
Both have been a massive presence at the
back for their respective sides and will be
the ones who will have an impact tonight.
DIVERSE GOALSCORERS
Both Bengaluru FC and Mumbai City FC
have benefitted with goals coming in from
all areas of the pitch. While the Bhutanese
striker Chencho became the seventh
goalscorer for the Blues this season, the
Islanders’ 13 goals have come from six
different players. It won’t be a surprise if
there’s a new addition to the list for either
side tonight.
 November 19, 2017 - Kanteerava Stadium January 18, 2018 - Mumbai Football Arena
Bengaluru FC 2-0 Mumbai City FC Mumbai City FC 1-3 Bengaluru FC
(Edu Garcia, Sunil Chhetri) (Miku, Sunil Chhetri x 2)

2 WINS 0 WINS

0 LOSSES 2 LOSSES

5 GOALS 1 GOAL

FACT BOX
Edu Garcia scored
Bengaluru FC's first
ever ISL goal against
Mumbai City FC
Sunil Chhetri was
named Hero of the
Match in both the
games against Mumbai

Sunil Chhetri has been the most prolific goalscorer in clashes

between the Blues and Mumbai, with three goals to his name
BLUES
SQUAD

1 I GURPREET SINGH SANDHU

2 I RAHUL BHEKE
3 I ALBERT SERRAN
4 I SAIRUAT KIMA
5 I JUAN GONZALEZ
6 I ERIK PAARTALU
7 I MIKU
8 I KEAN LEWIS
10 I HARMANJOT KHABRA
11 I SUNIL CHHETRI
13 I RINO ANTO
14 I DIMAS DELGADO
16 I MYRON MENDES
17 I BOITHANG HAOKIP
18 I SEMBOI HAOKIP
19 I XISCO HERNANDEZ
21 I UDANTA SINGH
22 I NISHU KUMAR
23 I SORAM POIREI
26 I ASHEER AKHTAR
27 I CHENCHO GYELTSHEN
32 I ADITYA PATRA
33 I GURSIMRAT SINGH
35 I AJAY CHHETRI
36 I ALTAMASH SAYED

HEAD COACH
CARLES CUADRAT

ASSISTANT COACH
GERARD ZARAGOZA
 SQUAD

AMRINDER SINGH I 1
SHOUVIK GHOSH I 3
MARKO KLISURA I 4
ANWAR ALI I 5
MILAN SINGH I 6
ARNOLD ISSOKO I 7
MOHAMMED RAFIQUE I 8
MATIAS MIRABAJE I 10
RAYNIER FERNANDES I 11
SANJU PRADHAN I 12
JOYNER LOURENCO I 14
SUBHASISH BOSE I 15
RAFAEL BASTOS I 16
PRANJAL BHUMIJ I 17
LUCIAN GOIAN I 18
VIGNESH DAKSHINAMURTHY I 19
RAVI KUMAR I 21
SOUVIK CHAKRABARTI I 23
ALEN DEORY I 25
SEHNAJ SINGH I 26
MODOU SOUGOU I 28
BIPIN SINGH I 29
KUNAL SAWANT I 30
DAVINDER SINGH I 32
BIKRAMJEET SINGH I 37
PAULO MACHADO I 55

HEAD COACH
JORGE COSTA

ASSISTANT COACH

MUMBAI
ANTHONY FERNANDES
EN IN FOR
CHENCHO GYELTSHEN
With his acrobatic volley against NorthEast United
last week, Chencho helped Bengaluru extend their
unbeaten start to the season to nine games. The
Bhutanese attacker who started his first game
against Goa, has improved immensely since. Either
as starter, or as a substitute, he will surely have an
impact on tonight’s game.

SUNIL CHHETRI
Despite not scoring in three games since that winner
in Goa, Chhetri still continues to be Bengaluru’s
main man up front. The Blues’ highest goalscorer
this season, has taken up a slightly different role in
Miku’s absence and even picked up the crucial
assist for Chencho’s equaliser in Guwahati. The
skipper will be eager to get one over his former
side tonight.

ERIK PAARTALU
The Blues have had more injury issues than they’d
like and Cuadrat has tried various combinations, all
with the Australian playing a vital part. Against
NorthEast United, Big E was the link between attack
and defense, and clocked an 83% pass accuracy.
Considering Mumbai’s midfield dependence, Erik‘s
role will be crucial tonight as he will be tasked with
breaking down the rivals’ game.
EN IN FOR
AMRINDER SINGH
The former Blues’ No. 1 has been one of the most
consistent players for Mumbai this season, keeping a
League-best five clean sheets. In fact, all of
Amrinder’s clean sheets have come in their current
six-match unbeaten run and he’s only conceded two
goals in that period. Once a Fortress-favourite,
Amrinder will pose a big challenge to the Bengaluru
front-line led by Chhetri and Udanta tonight.

RAYNIER FERNANDES
Raynier, who has often been used in a three-man
midfield alongside Sehnaj and Machado has started
thrice and come on four times as a substitute for
Mumbai. In fact, the 22-year-old midfielder, who
boasts a 75% pass accuracy, has now netted in
successive games against Delhi and Chennai. He has
been an impact-man for Jorge Costa and will be one
to watch out for tonight.

MODOU SOUGOU
The Senegalese attacker is one of only five players to
have started each game for the Islanders this
season. Sogou, who netted the second goal against
Chennaiyin last week, is currently the top-scorer for
Mumbai with four goals. The 33-year-old will lead the
attack for the visitors tonight and will be the focal
point of Jorge Costa’s gameplan.
OF CHANCES
AND CHENCHO
he Blues’ Bhutanese
Attacker Announced
Himself To The ISL In
The Grandest Of Ways But
While The Rest Of Us Keep
Running Back To The
Replays Of That Finish In
Guwahati, Chencho Says He’s
Working On How To Make
The Next Chance Count…
There were no promises of rainbows and
butterflies and Chencho Gyeltshen’s
contract could have well had the
expression as a clause in print when he
chose to wear the Bengaluru blue in
July this year. Five months on, the
baptism by fire may have left the
youngster from Bhutan with more scars
than he would have liked, but he’s
wasting no time healing.
The rapid winger joined Bengaluru after
having won the I-League with Minerva
Punjab for whom he scored seven goals in
the campaign. The toast of the club that
had also earned a qualifying spot for the
AFC Champions League, Chencho was king
in Punjab. But it didn’t take him much to
relinquish the luxury and start all over
again. “I was fully aware of what I was
getting into when I signed for Bengaluru
FC. You sit in the dressing room and look
around and think every player is better
than the other. It can be intimidating. But I
told myself that I was starting from
scratch. Whatever little I had achieved
before this, I kept aside. And when you start
from nothing, it’s always going to be
tough,” tells Chencho.
Circumstances may have given Chencho
the break he was yearning for, and it was
one he wanted to cling on to, even if it
meant having to fill the very lethal, let
alone big shoes of an injured Miku without
suggesting any nerves. He didn’t have the
best sixty minutes against Delhi Dynamos
in what was his first start for the Blues, but
the boss felt he deserved another shot.
Pune, at home again, was supposed to the
moment he would light up the Fortress and
announce his arrival. Instead, a night that
could have had a hat-trick next to his
name, ended with nothing to show for and a
whole lot of regret. “I was twisting and
turning in bed that night after the game. I
was caught between blaming my luck and
my performance. The only thing that
calmed me down was a promise I made to
myself about making this right with the
next chance I get,” recalls Chencho.
He admits his shoulders dropped just a
wee bit when he was named on the bench
COVER STORY

CHENCHO
GYELTSHEN

It’s easy to be disappointed, but I

think it’s easier to take the
chances you get. And that’s exactly
what I am going to do. Injury time
in Guwahati was when I started.

in the game against NorthEast United, but
not enough to pull him down and fall back
on the promise he made himself.
Down a goal and chasing the game, Carles
Cuadrat turned to Chencho and he
answered with a finish for the ages – an
overhead kick in the second minute of the
five added to end the game.
Weren’t the stakes too high to try
something as audacious as that? “The
captain’s header set it me up perfectly to
finish with an overhead kick. It was a
do-or-die situation and I had to go with
what I was sure of. As high-risk as it may
have seemed, I was sure of scoring with
that attempt. If I had kept it simpler, it may
not have gone in!”
With two more games left before the
League takes a break, Chencho knows well
enough that he has a small window in
which to work hard and give the boss a
selection headache. “It’s easy to be
disappointed, but I think it’s easier to take
the chances you get. And that’s exactly
what I am going to do. Injury time in
Guwahati was when I started,” he signs off.
SPONSORS AND PARTNERS
 “I was going to
call Carles,
but he beat me to it”
He’s Been Carles Cuadrat’s Go-To Man In The Dugout And
We Caught Up With Gerard Zaragoza To Talk About His
Indian Experience So Far…
Where did football begin for you?
It all started from my father, who was a
coach in Catalunya, and as I grew up, I
remember being in the dressing room
watching him coach so many players.When
I was six or seven years old, I started to play
in my town and since then my life has been
close to football.
How did you move from being a player
to a coach?
When I was 16 years old, my coaches used
to say that I will be a good coach because I
played as a centre-back or a full-back,
which had me always talking to the players
on the pitch. When I was 20, I broke my
knee and I decided to be a coach. I enjoy my
job and I would say that I prefer to be a
coach than a player.
What aspect of coaching is the most
demanding at a club like Bengaluru FC
where success is the benchmark?
To win games you need the best players and
when you have the best players it is easy to
win games.What I demand from myself is to
be professional 24 hours and that’s what I
demand from the players as well. To
understand our football and our tactics, it is
important to be one hundred percent
focused and to have faith.
Tell us a bit about your relationship
with Carles?
Carles and I are good friends. We met about
six years ago when we were in Madrid.
Normally you don’t exchange numbers with
a person you just met, but we felt that there
was some connection. We spoke a lot when
he was here in Bengaluru and I was in
Qatar. We have a very good relationship as
coaches and as well as friends. We spend
most of our time trying to find different
places to eat in Bengaluru.
Run us back to the phone call when
Carles called you to join BFC…
It’s a funny story actually! A friend of mine
told me that Carles was looking for a new
assistant and I just had finished my job in
Qatar. I found out about this on Friday, and
told myself that if he didn’t call me by
Monday, I would call him up myself! But, by
Saturday, he did call me. We met in
Barcelona a week later and arrived at an
agreement.
What are the factors do you think have
come into play for us to be unbeaten
at this stage in the season?
Our pre-season was important.It was a very
long one and finally whatever we did was
crucial because the players understand
us.When you have good players and you
begin to win, it is easy to continue that
because we feel that we can.
Our fans show you a lot of love from
the stands everywhere, home or away
it is the same, they sing your name,
what is it like for you?
It is amazing, to be honest. I feel at home
here in Bengaluru. To hear them sing my
name makes me want to give everything for
them. For my wife and I, to hear my name
from the stands; it fills us with a lot of joy. I
feel at home at this club.
I know that I have come across as an angry
person on the touchline to some of the
opposition fans. I don’t know, because that
is something inside me that I cannot
control.If I try to control this, the person
there will not be Gerard; it will be
somebody else. Off the pitch I am calm and
on it I try to concentrate on everything that
will help me win the game.
AT THE TOP
P W L D GD PTS

1 9 7 0 2 9 23

2 10 6 2 2 3 20

3 10 5 1 4 6 19

4 9 5 2 2 8 17

*As of 7 December 2018

LEADERBOARD

FIVE THREE TWO TWO THREE TWO TWO TWO

PLAY THE BFC WAY!
Join BFC Soccer Schools at FIFTEEN centres across the city, where we
teach your little one how to play the beautiful game with licensed coaches
and under approved curriculum.

GAME ON, Horamavu

CAPSA, Yelahanka Kalkere, Bengaluru,
Yelahanka-Doddaballapur Road, Karnataka 560016
Honnenahalli, Age Group : 5 - 12 yrs
Bengaluru – 560064
Age Group : 5 - 14 yrs

GAMECHANGER,
Mathikere
No. 112, MSR Colony,
MSR College Road, Gokula Extension,
Mathikere, Bengaluru – 560054
Age Group : 5 - 14 yrs

OTB Sports, Hoodi

Sri Chandrashekar Azad Ground Adjacent Ittina Akkala Apartment,
Hoodi, Basavanna Nagar, Whitefield,
Vijayanagar
Bengaluru, Karnataka 560048
Opposite Hampinagar Bus Stand,
Age Group : 5 - 12 yrs
Hampinagar, Vijayanagar,
Bengaluru – 56004
Age Group : 5 - 16yrs

FOR MORE DETAILS, CALL ON 073385-52926, 089511-48576, 095916-53564