Times six Abahani, who won the Bangladesh Premier League, will fly to Kolkata today in two different groups to play in their AFC Cup playoff game against Mohun Bagan Super Giants.
The game will be played tomorrow at the Salt Lake Stadium, and the winner will move on to the group stage of the second-best club tournament in Asia for the South Asian zone.
The Sky Blues will leave with at least seven foreign players, including six who started in their 2-1 win against Club Eagles of Maldives in Dhaka last week.
In the last tournament, the Kolkata giants beat Abahani 3-1 in a playoff game. This was the third time in a row that Abahani had to leave the competition in either the first round or the playoffs. This time, however, the team’s leaders are hoping to make it to the group stage for the first time since 2019.
“Because we have six foreign players, I think the gap between the two clubs is smaller than it was before,” Abahani boss Satyjit Das Rupu told The Daily Star yesterday after getting Indian visas for the team members.
Rupu did say, though, that the Indian teams are better than Abahani because they have played in the Indian Super League, where there are a lot of intense games.
“There is no doubt that Indian clubs are getting better because of the ISL. It brings in a lot of big players, and the Indian players who play there also get better. Rupu said, “The Indian players are now more sure of themselves, and their style of play has also changed.” “We are going there to qualify for the group stage, but it will depend on how the players do on the pitch.”