Club Eagles challenge Bengaluru FC in AFC Cup playoff match

3 years ago newscubic

Sunil Chhetri-led Bengaluru FC will look to start their season on a positive note against Maldivian club Eagles in a play-off match of the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) Cup here on Sunday.

The winner of this playoff will secure a place in Group D of the 2021 AFC Cup. The match was earlier scheduled to be played in May (2021) but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bengaluru had registered an emphatic 5-0 win over Nepal’s Tribhuvan Army in the opening round in April, while Club Eagles defeated Thimphu FC of Bhutan 2-0.

Apart from Chhetri, Bengaluru head coach Marco Pejoli will be confident of a better performance from new players like Rohit Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh, Vidyasagar Singh, Jayesh Rane, Danish Farooq and Sarthak Golui.

Bengaluru FC, which finished seventh in the Indian Super League last season, has had a decent run in the AFC Cup. The team finished runners-up in 2016 and have made it to the Inter-Zonal Finals in 2017 and the semi-finals a year later.

Play-off winners will book a place in Group D along with another Indian team ATK Mohun Bagan, Bashundhara (Vasundhara) Kings of Bangladesh and Magiya Sports and Recreation team of Maldives. Group D matches will be played in Male from Wednesday.
The winner of the playoffs in Group D will face ATK Mohun Bagan in the opening match while Magiya Sports and Recreation will take on Bashundhara Kings in another match.
The winner of Group D will play against FC Nassaf of Uzbekistan or FC Ahl of Turkmenistan from the central zone in the inter-zone semi-finals.