The reigning champions East Bengal against Kerala Blasters FC during the Kalinga Super Cup opening match on Sunday, with 15 teams in the running for the trophy and a solitary niche available for the AFC champions season next season. Last year, East Bengal FC snatched the silverware, beating Odisha FC 3-2 after a fascinating period.
The Red and Gold Brigade has ended their 12 -year expectations for a national trophy and is defending its crown on the same land.
Eastern Bengal is not foreigners to the defense cup titles, having won consecutive cuts from the Federation in 2009-10 and 2010, while the Kerala Blasters are looking for their very first trophy at the national level.
The two parties had disappointing Indian campaigns of the Super League, ending respectively in the ninth and eighth place, and this tournament presents a shot in Glory. The winner of this confrontation will face Mohun Bagan Super Giant, who received a bye after the withdrawal of the Churchill Brothers from the I-League brothers, in the first quarter-final on April 26.
On April 21, another ISL FC FC, 2019 champions, will face the Gokulam Kerala FC in a confrontation between the League.
Gaurs could not exceed the group phase in the last two editions and will be impatient to win not only the trophy, but also to mark a return to the continental scene for the second time after the AFC 2021 Champions League.
Gokulam Kerala also plans a second Asian campaign after the AFC 2022 Cup, but Malabariens have never exceeded 16 in the Kalinga Super Cup. They finished without victory in the last two tournaments, including a 0-1 defeat against Goa in 2023 in the group phase.
Later Monday, Odisha FC hosts will face the Punjab FC. Since he made his Super Cup debut in 2023, the Juggeraux has been the team to beat in the competition.
Champions in 2023 and finalists in 2024, the Super Cup was their favorite tournament. It also opened its doors for a first appearance in AFC cup in 2023-24.
The Punjab FC also made its debut in 2023, but never exceeded the group phase, winning only one of their six games during the two seasons.
Bengaluru FC and Inter Kashi will meet for the third time in two seasons on April 23. They were the subject of 1-1 to the stage of the Kalinga Super Cup group in 2024, before the Blues were exhausted 3-0 in the phase of the Durand Cup group in August from last year.
The injury to lose the ISL final is still cool for Bengaluru FC. But that will only add to the hunger of the very first winners of the Super Cup in 2018 as they seek to become the first club to win the tournament twice, and also ended their absence of four years from Asian competitions.
Inter Kashi made its Super Cup debut last year, including the qualification round, but ending the group phase without victory.
Wednesday, Mumbai City FC and Chennaiyin FC will compete for the fourth time of the Super Cup, which makes it the most played match in the brief history of the tournament.
The Icelanders won 1-0 in each of the last two seasons in the group phase, while the Marina Machans won 2-0 winners in the round of 16 in 2019.
Mumbai City has an undefeated sequence of 13 games in all competitions against Chennaiyin, who has not tasted the victory in this match since February 2020. The two games have already played continental football – Mumbai City in the AFC Cup of AFC 2022 and 2023-24 and the Chennaiyin FC in the 2019 AFC Cup.
The Northeast United and Mohammedan Sporting locks horns on April 24. This has already been a historic season for the Highlanders, which won their very first silverware in the form of the Durand Cup last August and went to the Indian Super League qualifiers.
The Mohammedan, on the other hand, hopes to find some joy in the tournament after a first discouraging ISL campaign which concluded with only two victories.
The round of 16 will end with a confrontation between the Jamshedpur FC and the Hyderabad FC on Thursday.
The quarter-finals will take place on April 26 and 27, the semi-finals on April 30 and the final on May 3.
(With the exception of the title, this story has not been published by NDTV staff and is published from a unionized flow.)
Subjects mentioned in this article
