Dress rehearsal for Federation Cup final as Mohun Bagan meet Bengaluru FC in AFC Cup

In what will be pre-cursor to the high-octane Federation Cup final, Mohun Bagan and Bengaluru FC will have an ideal ‘dress rehearsal’ when they square off in an inconsequential AFC Cup group league encounter on Wednesday. Bagan are already out of AFC Cup while Bengaluru as the group E toppers have already qualified for the next stage.

However the crazy scheduling of Federation Cup meant that the final is being played a week after the semi-finals with the second tier continental championship sandwiched in between. This will be their fifth meeting this season, with the first of those matches took place in Bengaluru on March 11.

They have met in two I-League games, one Federation Cup group game and one leg of the AFC Cup — with the results being two draws and one win apiece. They will meet again for the sixth time on May 21 in Cuttack in the Federation Cup final that will also give the winners an AFC Cup slot for the 2018 season.

On nine points from four matches to lead the table, Bengaluru will look to log full points to secure their passage to knock-out stage. The third-placed Mohun Bagan who have three points from four matches …read more