BENGALURU FC ARE on the brink of resurgence.
After overcoming a drop in form in the middle of the season to spectacularly claim their second I-League title in 3 years, the Blues are also within touching distance of a full revival of their Asian campaign.
Placed second in Group H, they are on 6 points, behind defending champions Johor Darul Ta'zim (12) and ahead of Ayeyawadi United and Lao Toyota (both on 3). Since Johor have been bulldozing their way through the group stage and are unlikely to lose to Ayeyawadi United whom they beat 8-1 in the previous leg, Bengaluru FC potentially need a draw against Lao Toyota to secure a place in the next round.
Now, in the first leg, Lao Toyota beat Bengaluru FC. It was in the middle of the injury crisis when BFC were playing without Sunil Chhetri and Eugeneson Lyngdoh, resulting in a highly ineffective attack that had to be changed in the second half to create the chance for C.K. Vineeth to slot in that last minute goal to arrive at a respectable 2-1 final score. It was also one of the games where a youngster called Udanta Singh first drew everyone's attention.
The Bengaluru FC of today is much different than that. They have most of their star players back, and new ones have stepped up to restore stability and lethality to their attack. And they are on a high after winning the I-League. And this time they will have the advantage of having thousands of home fans screaming to egg them on.
In short, BFC are a far more fearsome team than the one that lost to Lao Toyota in February. And to be frank, that was the only bad day they experienced in Asia this season. They put up a strong fight against Johor Darul Ta'zim at home early in March, losing to the defending champions by a 0-1 margin. Keep in mind, Johor have a goal difference of +14 in this group and the Malaysian club are one of the favourites to win the tournament this time as well, so putting up that kind of fight against them is no small matter. BFC then returned to winning ways by beating Ayeyawadi United 0-1 away from goal, and then pulled off a strong statement by fielding an all-Indian squad against the same club at home in the return leg. The match ended in a 5-3 win for them.
Suddenly, their fledging Asian campaign was back on track. And now they can finish the job tomorrow against Lao Toyota. Coach Ashley Westwood will undoubtedly treat this as a do-or-die game because their only remaining group stage game after this is away to Johor.
And Westwood has laid the groundwork already to put on the strongest possible performance tomorrow. He rested 5 first team players on Saturday against Mohun Bagan. BFC lost the match 5-0 but Chhetri, Lyngdoh and others are fresh for the game that can make or break their efforts in Asia.
Lao Toyota, meanwhile, have sort of found themselves out of depth in AFC Cup. They beat Bengaluru FC in that first game, but lost 3 games back to back since then. On the domestic league though they have won all their matches so far and sit at the top of the table. But 3 back to back defeats have brought them to the very edge of being thrown out of contention for the next round and nothing short of a victory tomorrow will reverse their fortunes. So they are coming in to fight as well, there's little doubt about that. And they have some experienced and competent players in Syvilay, Homma, Yamada and Khantavong.
So BFC are walking in to play what is a virual knock-out game. The stakes and pressure are high, but if they can pull off a win in a game like this right before the Federation Cup starts, it will put them in the best possible frame of mind ahead of the cup-only (Fed & AFC) month of May. And considering it's a do-or-die game for both the teams, one can expect an all-or-nothing battle from this match which is what these cup tournaments - domestic or continental - are all about.