Kerala Blasters to Face Bengaluru FC, Mohun Bagan Super Giant to Meet Punjab FC for a Spot in the Semis

Kolkata/Jamshedpur, August 21, 2024: Kerala Blasters and Bengaluru FC will fight for a spot in the semi-finals of the 133^rdIndianOil Durand Cup which will be played at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata while defending champions Mohun Bagan Super Giant will face Punjab FC in the other quarterfinals at the JRD Tata Sports Complex in Jamshedpur. 

All 43 matches of the 133rd IndianOil Durand Cup will be broadcast LIVE on the Sony Sports Network (Sony Ten2 HD) as well as livestreamed on the SonyLiv OTT platform

Kerala Blasters and Bengaluru FC face each other in the ‘Southern Derby’, which is one of the fiercely contested derbies of Indian football in recent times. Both teams qualified for the knockouts topping their respective groups and the quarterfinals promises to be an exciting contest. 

Speaking ahead of the match, Bengaluru FC Head Coach Gerard Zaragoza said, “Everyone knows that Bengaluru FC and Kerala Blasters share a great rivalry, and that’s good for Indian football. As always, Blasters have assembled a squad with very talented players and their attack has been performing well in the Durand Cup. Going up against probably the most in-form side in the competition is something that presents a good challenge for us, and I’m sure we will need to be at our best to progress.”

Kerala Blasters were in terrific form in the group stages, thumping in a total of 16 goals from three matches and conceding just once. New signing Noah Sadaoui has already scored six goals, including two hat-tricks, while his strike partner Kwame Peprah scored four including a hat-trick. They topped the group with seven points, winning against Mumbai City and CISF Protectors and played out a 1-1 draw against fellow ISL club Punjab FC. On the other hand, Bengaluru FC topped Group B, winning all their three matches scoring 10 goals and conceding just twice. Talisman striker Sunil Chhetri has been in the goals scoring twice while Jorge Pererya Diaz has also scored twice. 

Defending Champions Mohun Bagan Super Giant will face the challenge of Punjab FC in the other quarterfinal which will have a 4 PM kick-off. Mohun Bagan topped Group A while Punjab qualified as one of the best second placed side. Both sides finished their group stage with seven points each.

New Mohun Bagan SG Head Coach Jose Molina will rely on their star power against a compact and well drilled Punjab side under new Head Coach Panagiotis Dilmperis. The goal threat for the Shers will come from their foreign recruits Luka Majcen and Mushaga Bakenga. The midfield also looks compact with new signings Filip Mrzljak and Ezequiel Vidal supported by the energetic Vinit Rai and Nikhil Prabhu. 

Panagiotis Dilmperis sounded confident before the game, “We have our game plan for tomorrow and we will stick to it. The players are training well and the atmosphere in the dressing room is great. We know that we are up against one of the strongest sides in Indian football but in a tournament format, any team can beat the other on their day”, the Greek gaffer added. 

The Mariners do not have any shortage of quality in their ranks as Jason Cummings and Greg Stewart have already hit the ground running in the tournament along with the big Indian names in Apuia, Sahal Abdul Samad, Liston Colaco and Anirudh Thapa. It will be interesting to see if Jose Molina will use Aussie striker Jamie Maclaren and start player Dimitri Petratos for the match. New signing Tom Aldred has played all three matches in the tournament and will lead their defence along with club Captain Subhasish Bose.