The battle heats up in a frozen Jinan as Bagan prepare to face Shandong Luneng in ACL qualifiers

USUALLY, AFTER AN away win in the I-League, the Mohun Bagan players get to relax in the hotel, take the evening off, watch a few films on their laptops and generally kick back for the night before taking a flight next day to wherever the next match is. But it wasn't to be on Saturday night.

After beating DSK Shivajians by two goals, the entire team rushed into 10 Toyota Innova cars arranged by the home team and took off, in frantic pace, towards the Mumbai airport to catch a late night flight to Beijing. 

After the hectic journey to the airport came another blow: their main man up front, Cornell Glen, was not going to be able to make the trip due to a visa glitch. The woes kept piling on as the team made the journey to China without the Trinidad & Tobago World Cupper, arriving in Beijing and travelling by bus to Jinan where a temperature of minus seven degree celcius was waiting for them. Thankfully in the afternoon, when they will play the game, the temperature is expected to rise just above the freezing point.

So here they are, in an alien cimate, with a weakened squad, about to face a team unlike any they usually face back in India. 

Shandong Luneng FC play in the Chinese Super League, one of the strongest leagues in Asia. They have an operating budget of around Rs 260 crore, nearly 20 times the budget of Mohun Bagan. One look at their squad reveals a team rich in experience and fire-power. Last season they finished 3rd in the league, and won the Chinese FA Super Cup. We are talking one of the leading clubs in East Asia who will put up hard fights against Japanese and South Korean clubs.

They have Wang Dalei at goal. Walter Montillo at midfield. Diego Tardelli up front. The quality in the team is amazing, and the squad depth is enviable. And they are under the guiding hands of former Brazil and Italy manager Mano Menezes. Although, to Bagan's advantage, Gil does not seem to be registered for this match. That and the fact that this will be Shandong Luneng's first match of the season are slight advantages in what appears to be a mountain to climb for Mohun Bagan. 

The welcome they have received in China, however, has not lacked in warmth. The local and national media has talked a lot about them. Some have published article discussing their history. There is a lot of curiosity around the match; but much of that is indicative of a lack of tension. They all expect Mohun Bagan to lose; the only thing they're looking forward to see is how Bagan handle themselves on the pitch.

Around 4:30 pm (3 pm IST), the Mariners had their one and only practice session, at the Jinan Olympic Sports Center Stadium where the match is going to be held. Whether that is enough of a preparation for a match like this is anyone's guess. The squad is also overworked; they are playing their third game in 8 days. And the biggest handicap they have to deal with is that they don't have enough depth to efficiently rotate the squad.

Players like Katsumi, Sony Norde and Luciano Sabrosa could not be rested against DSK Shivajians so they could be fresh for this game. Nor will they be rested against Shillong Lajong, whom Bagan are to play on the 6th of February. The I-League is extremely competitive and they can't afford to relax for a single game; the shortened league means one dropped point or one lapse in winning momentum can ruin the title race for the defending champions.

And the hard reality is that no matter how significant playing in the AFC Champions League qualifiers is, Mohun Bagan cannot help but make I-League their first priority. Being the champions of India is a target they can chase. But not even the most ardent Bagan fan will expect this team to go far in ACL. The sheer lack of preparation for the possibility of this trip to China that the Mohun Bagan officials have shown - the visa glitch and all that - indicates that they, too, were somewhat taken aback when Mohun Bagan beat Tampine Rovers in the first round of the qualifiers.

When you stack all these factors together, it begins to seem less and less likely that Mohun Bagan are going to come out on top in this game. They just don't seem ready for it. If indeed the Mariners actually pull off a win in China, it will be nothing short of a footballing miracle; one of the upsets of the decade. It will be another feather in the club's cap and yet another milestone for Indian football.

It's a shame that the match will not be shown live by any Indian TV channel. Thankfully the home broadcasters CCTV 5 offer easily accessible live streaming that can be found here. The match will begin at 12:30 IST.

A win seems like an impossible dream. But that's not a reason not to chase it.