ISL 2020-21: Antonio Lopez Habas wary of Mumbai City FC's threat to ATK Mohun Bagan
ATK Mohun Bagan is currently placed second in the 2020-21 Indian Super League table. It takes on table-topper, Mumbai City FC on Monday. While ATKMB is the so-called defending champion of the tournament, Mumbai is yet to win the title to date.
FollowATK Mohun Bagan faces a tough challenge, as it takes on table-topper, Mumbai City FC in the 2020-21 Indian Super League (ISL), at the Fatorda Stadium, Bengaluru, on Monday. ATKMB is currently placed second in the table, while a win would take it to the top spot.
The teams have been in a glorious form of late and are unbeaten in the past five matches. Meanwhile, ATKMB head coach, Antonio Lopez Habas feels that his side would test its defence against the powerful attack of Mumbai.
"I don't think that Mumbai is a team that only attacks. They have good progressional play and counter attacks [too]. It's very difficult to stop their team because they always play forward, but I don't think it's a match between attacking and defending because football is a game of attacking and defending. Both teams have transitions from one side to the other," he said during the pre-match press conference.
"The importance of a match depends on the moment. Now, it's a match between the first (Mumbai City) and second teams [on the table]. Maybe, two or three weeks later, the match may not have the same importance, but the idea is to continue playing in the same way to get three points [in every game]," he added.
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"I remember my first season in the ISL, we (ATK) won the competition. Maybe, we played better in the second season (more points in league stage - 23, as compared to 19 from the same number of games), but did not win the competition," he recalled.
Watch the full presser by Habas here:
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Meanwhile, club striker Roy Krishna is looking to continue with his goal-scoring form, as he feels, "I think everyone wants to play in a big game and this will be one of the biggest games of the first round (first half of the season). We are just going to concentrate on doing our own thing, play well and stick to our game plan."
"It's really good to see that we are keeping those clean sheets (7) and getting important wins even when we're not playing well. So, this shows what kind of team we are. Hopefully, we are going to continue defending well, get those counters and convert our chances," he concluded.
Here is more on Krishna's take:
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