Storied ATK Mohun Bagan face modern powerhouse Bengaluru FC in the final tonight

An exhilarating Indian Super League season will crown its champion tonight as ATK Mohun Bagan take on Bengaluru FC for the silverware at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Margao. A win for the Mariners can hand them their maiden ISL title, while the Blues could lift their second one, having last done so in the 2018-19 season. Atletico Kolkata (ATK) before Mohun Bagan was bought over, had won three titles. ATKMB have been unbeaten in five games leading up to the final, where they’ve only conceded once.

The club’s defensive prowess has been evident since the league phase, where they conceded just 17 goals all season, making them statistically the second-best defensive team in the league after Hyderabad FC. A solid defensive backline with Pritam Kotal and Brendan Hamill enabled the Mariners to achieve this feat. However, in the last four games, Slavko Damjanovic has replaced Hamill at the heart of defence as ATK Mohun Bagan have kept clean sheets in all those games. Asish Rai has been a threat down the right flank. In attack, the only player that head coach Juan Ferrando could be without is Ashique Kuruniyan, but the ATKMB coach is positive about him playing. He will be assessed in training before the final against his former club.

In six ISL matches in the past, Bengaluru FC have only beaten ATKMB once and that came when the two sides last met at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan last month. The Mariners have beaten the Blues four times.