132nd Durand Cup: Kerala Blasters face Bengaluru FC in must-win Southern Derby

Kolkata, Aug 17 (IANS) Two crack Indian Super League (ISL) teams -- Bengaluru FC and Kerala Blasters FC -- face off in a must-win Southern Derby in the 132nd Durand Cup at the Kishore Bharati Krirangan (KBK) here on Friday.

Kerala Blasters will take on defending champions Bengaluru FC in a high-voltage Southern Derby with both teams needing to win Friday's clash to improve their chances of making it to the next stage. 

Bengaluru, the defending champions have drawn their first game while the Kerala Blasters went down in a Kerala derby clash with Gokulam in their opener. As a result, both need to win their second games to keep hopes of qualifying alive.

However, given the champions have fielded a young side, the scales seem to be tipped in favour of the Manjappadas, because of the form both teams have shown in their opening games in the championships.

The Blasters came second-best in a seven-goal slugfest with the 2019 champions Gokulam, but their key players like Urugyuan Adrian Luna, wing-back Prabir Das and midfielder Jeakson Singh looked sharp. Particularly impressive was their young attacking winger Mohammed Aimen.

Bengaluru on the other hand also had some encouraging performances from some of their youngsters. Bekey Oram and Harsh Patre in midfield were particularly impressive. 

Salam Johnson Singh will also feel good having got on the board and if someone like Robin Yadav can get his free kicks on target as he did in the Santosh Trophy, we can have a very exciting game of football in our hands.

Bibiano Fernandez, the BFC coach made some key points in a pre-match chat when he said, “There were positives to take from our last match, and definitely a lot of things we need to improve on. The game against Kerala will pit us against a really good team, and all the boys are looking forward to the challenge. The aim is to put our best foot forward and be able to make the right decisions on the pitch."

A symbol of India’s football history and culture, the Durand Cup is Asia’s oldest and the world’s third-oldest football tournament. Organized by the Indian Armed Forces, the Durand Cup has been the breeding ground for India’s best footballing talent, over the years.

The ongoing 132nd edition of the event, the inaugural edition of which happened in Shimla in 1888, when it started off as an Army Cup, includes a total of 24 teams from the ISL, I-League, and the Armed Forces which have been divided into six groups of four teams. 

The top team from each group and the two best second-placed teams across all six groups will be progressing to the quarter-final.