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Journalism of Courage
In what has been a special season for NorthEast United FC, the Eelco Schattorie’s side will have their eyes set on the chance of creating history by making it to maiden final when they take on Bengaluru FC at their home ground Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati for the first leg of their playoffs on March 7.
NEUFC, who were the only team from the original eight clubs to have never finished in top four, qualified for the play-offs for the first time in ISL history. And that they managed to do without big names featuring in the team. NEUFC relied heavily on Federico Gallego and Bartholomew Ogbeche, who gave consistent performances throughout the season to help their side make it to the semifinals.
Other than the partnership of the dynamic duo, Schattorie’s side boasts of the best defensive record in the league this season with just 18 goals conceded in as many games, despite missing the services of Mislav Komorski, who was ruled out for the season with an injury.
Scgattirie’s side will, however, have to face Bengaluru without Gurwinder Singh, who was sent off in their final league match against Kerala Blasters.
League leaders Bengaluru, who remained unbeaten till January, come off a 5-1 loss to Jamshedpur. However, the Blues will remain high on confidence, knowing well that they played their reserves in the dead rubber against the fifth-placed Jamshedpur.
Bengaluru started their season with a new coach – Carles Cuadrat, who seems to have passed the test with flying colours. The Blues enjoyed a dominating first half of the season but could not maintain their record after the International break, losing four ISL matches.
Cuadrat will rely heavily on India captain Sunil Chhetri and Xisco Hernandez to steer the side to their second consecutive final. Udanta Singh has also lived up to his expectations to become another reliable player for Bengaluru. Chhetri is the only Indian to have scored more goals than Udanta this season.
Bengaluru will, however, be missing midfielder Erik Paartalu, who has been sidelined with a back-injury since February. As a result, the club acquired the services of Alex Barrera as a replacement for the playoffs.
