The big day of Indian football calendar is here. The first Kolkata Derby of ISL 2022-23 is all set to take place on Saturday at the Salt Lake Stadium. It will be a sold out crowd at Salt Lake on the day, with fans of both clubs thronging the stadium to cheer for their side.
East Bengal aim maiden derby win against ATK Mohun Bagan in ISL
East Bengal FC head coach Stephen Constantine is looking forward to the Kolkata derby as the Red and Golds take on ATK Mohun Bagan in the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) at the Yuva Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata on Saturday.
Constantine who has witnessed many Kolkata derbies from afar while being the head coach of the Indian national team hailed the fixture as the biggest one in Asian football and felt it is at par with some of the biggest footballing derbies in the world. Coming into the game on the back of a win, Constantine is hoping his side put their best foot forward and end their winless run in the Kolkata derby.
Earlier this season, the iconic Salt Lake Stadium hosted a Durand Cup derby, the first after the COVID-19 pandemic. In a sloppy contest, an own goal from East Bengal handed Mohun Bagan victory. Nothing much separates the two teams on the standings as both have three points each, but the Mariners are ahead at seventh place on goal difference, with a match in hand.
The Mohun Bagan coach Juan Ferrando remained cautious about his opponent saying that the qualitative difference between the teams has narrowed down. “This season, there is very little difference between the first-place and last-place teams. There are a lot of great teams who have a chance to win. In this case, we’ll have to prepare for the derby like a final – but I think this is great for Indian football,” Ferrando said.
Stephen Constantine, the former National coach now in charge of East Bengal, also remained quite upbeat. “There is also the question of bragging rights and pride that goes with the Kolkata Derby. I am aware that we have not won a derby in the last few meetings. So, we are going to try and fix that tomorrow night,” he said.
The significance of the Kolkata Derby is the same for East Bengal fans as well. They also treat a derby win with the same enthusiasm with which they treat winning a competition. Saturday will be no exception. Winning the derby might actually be more necessary for East Bengal fans as they have lost all the derby matches in the last two years, precisely, six in a row. Four of these were ISL fixtures. The Red & Golds would definitely want to change this stat and taste their first ISL derby win on Saturday.
