Stakes high for Bagan in ‘just another match’

As the Bagan players practised in two bunches on either side of the centre line,viewers got a sense of who would feature in the match. Vice-captain Lalkamal Bhowmick,NS Manju,Marcos Pereira and Rakesh Masih — serving a double booking — weren’t in the group being attended to by coach Karim Bencherifa.

The club need a combination of good performance and good fortune to walk off with the top prize on Thursday — they must win and Churchill Brothers must not beat Mohammedan Sporting for the Kolkata club to win the I-League. “It’s more in the mind now than the legs. It’s like a final for us. We aren’t thinking too much about the Churchill-Mohammedan Sporting match. A win is what is in our hands. But they (Churchill) still have the upper hand,” said Bagan’s Moroccan coach Bencherifa.

Skipper Baichung Bhutia made a few dummy-runs at the goalmouth alongside Jose Ramirez Barreto,and the regular big-match eve comments were flying around. “Tomorrow is one of our biggest games,but we’re taking it as just another match. Churchill fumbled last season under similar conditions. No doubt they’re still the favourites,but we are just hoping they falter again. You never know in football,” said Bhutia,referring to how Churchill missed the title on goal-difference to Dempo last season.

But the last-minute additions of Manju and Masih on the double-booking list for bare-chested celebrations,will certainly leave Bagan a depleted side on Thursday. “Missing four first-eleven players would certainly make a difference,but we don’t have a choice,” Bhutia added. Anand Vasan will replace Manju in defence,but Masih and Marcos’s absence in the midfield is likely to force Becherifa to play Branco Cardozo alongside Baichung upfront and pull Barreto back into to the midfield.

The Mahindra United camp,keeping a low profile,are weaving strategies of their own. “The result is obviously more important for them. But we also want to finish the campaign on a high and wait for the Dempo-East Bengal match for the final positions,” coach Derrick Pereira said.

Churchill gear up for D-Day
Far away in Goa,having ensured an unassailable goal-difference of 26,“all three points” was the only thing on the Churchill players’ minds. “I admire the history of Mohun Bagan. I admire Karim and his boys for the way they chased us. But I think they have to accept that we deserve to be the champions. It was difficult to come out on top and more difficult to stay up there. Tomorrow,it will be official that we are the I-League champions,” Churchill coach Zoran Djordjevic said.

Memories of last season’s sit-and-watch haven’t quite faded but defender Gourmangi Singh said that this time everything was in their hands. “We are confident of getting all three points. Last year we could do little as Dempo snatched the title away,” said Gourmangi. “This time,it’s different.”

In other last-round matches Air India play Sporting Clube de Goa in Gurgaon while Mumbai FC and Dempo SC play away to JCT and East Bengal,respectively.