Bagan look to create history

I-League champions Mohun Bagan will look to create history when they take on Singapore heavyweights Tampines Rovers in the AFC Champions League qualifiers at the Vivekananda Yuva Bharati Krirangan here on Wednesday.

Playing their first match at home in the competition, the Mariners will be keen to get past the preliminary stage 1, something no Indian club have managed to do. Pune FC (in 2014) and Bengaluru FC (in 2015) made exits at this stage.

Having already played three matches in the I-League, Mohun Bagan’s bid will be helped not only by the home condition but for the fact that the Singaporean outfit are coming here on the back of an off-season.

Nicknamed ‘The Stags’, the visiting side are without silverware for a second season on the trot as their new chairman Krishna Ramachandra has overhauled the club retaining just five players from 2014-15.

They have new recruits in last season’s top scorer Fazrul Nawaz, the seasoned duo of Noh Rahman and Yasir Hanapi, and their top signing of the season in former Arsenal and Liverpool winger Jermaine Pennant who, however, will miss Wednesday’s game.

On paper, the Stags look a strong side but it remains to be seen how they gel as an unit against a team who have won two matches in the ongoing I-League before a 1-1 draw result against age old rivals East Bengal on Saturday.

In the absence of Balwant Singh (groin injury), Mohun Bagan will bank on Katsumi Yusa, Sony Norde and Cornell Glen to finish the match in regulation time.