In the AFC Cup 2022 Inter-zone play-off semi-finals, the ISL team ATK Mohun Bagan will face the winners of the ASEAN Zone final on 7th September at the Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata.
The 2020/21 ISL regular season runners-up ATK Mohun Bagan played the Group Stage (South Asia Zone) of the AFC Cup 2022 last May after earlier winning the two-stage Qualifying play-offs of this competition.
How did ATK Mohun Bagan qualify for the Inter-zone play-off semi-finals?
In the Group D of this competition, ATKMB’s opponents were 2020/21 I-League Champions Gokulam Kerala, 2021 Bangladesh Premier League winners and 2020/21 Bangladesh Federation Cup winners Bashundhara Kings, and 2020/21 Dhivehi Premier League champions Maziya (Maldivian club).
Though ATKMB started the Group Stage of the AFC Cup 2022 with a 4-2 defeat against the other Indian club Gokulam Kerala, the Mariners then thrashed Bashundhara Kings by 4-0 and Maziya by 5-2. ATKMB and Bashundhara Kings both finished that Group D competition with six points each, but the ISL club advanced to the next round, the Inter-zone play-off semi-finals, thanks to the Head-to-Head win against the Kings.
Now, ATKMB are waiting for their opponent for the Inter-zone play-off semi-finals in this AFC Cup 2022. The winners of the ASEAN Zone final will face the Mariners in the Inter-zone play-off semi-finals on 7th September at the Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata.
The opponents
In the ASEAN Zonal semi-finals, Indonesian team PSM Makassar will play against the Malaysian club Kedah Darul Aman on 9th August, and Vietnam club Viettel will face another Malaysian team Kuala Lumpur City on 10th August. The winners of both these semi-finals will meet in the ASEAN Zonal final on 24th August.
ATKMB: Road to the final
ATK Mohun Bagan are three matches away to create history by becoming the first Indian team to win the AFC Cup. Bengaluru FC is the only Indian club to date to participate in the final of an AFC Cup competition as they finished as the runners-up in the 2016 edition.
ATKMB will qualify for the Inter-zone play-off final if they win its semi-final on 7th September. This final has been scheduled to be played on 5th October.
The AFC Cup 2022 final has been scheduled on 22nd October, where the Inter-zone play-off final winners will face the West Asia Zonal final winners for the ultimate trophy.
