Important to respect the opponents – ATK Mohun Bagan’s Juan Ferrando before facing Abahani Dhaka in AFC Cup tie

ATK Mohun Bagan head coach Juan Ferrando believes it is important for them to respect Bangladesh club Abahani Dhaka before their AFC Cup tie, which will be played at the Salt Lake Stadium on Tuesday. The Mariners had hammered Sri Lankan side Blue Star FC by a huge margin of 5-0 last week but Ferrando doesn’t want his team to get complacent after a big win.

On the other hand, Abahani Dhaka was given a walkover after AFC confirmed that the Football Association of Maldives (FAM) confirmed Club Valencia’s withdrawal from the tournament. Thus, their match was canceled and they will now play the Preliminary third round.

Subsequently, if ATK Mohan Bagan manages to win their third round, then they will be placed in Group D alongside Bashundhara Kings of Bangladesh, Maziya of the Maldives and Hero I-League champions Gokulam Kerala.

Sharing his thoughts before the all-important game, Ferrando said, “A lot of respect for the opponent because this is the same case from a week ago. It’s a very difficult game and it’s very important to respect the opponent because it will be difficult.”

Meanwhile, the Spaniard feels Abahani Dhaka is good in transition. Furthermore, the visitors will have Rafael Augusto on their team, who has the experience of playing in the Hero ISL for Chennaiyin FC and Bengaluru FC.

ATK Mohun Bagan gaffer added, “When you win 5-0, you know it is one game because if you want to continue in knockouts so in this case, to be in the group stages, it’s normal. When the opponent is down 1-0, they try to attack and that leaves more space. This is the reason. But don’t forget sometimes in transition, there were difficult moments for us. Our opponent is very good at transitions. Everybody knows about Raphael Augusto here in India, so it’s important for players that they find the spaces and it’s very important to control these details.”

Speaking on the positive, Ferrando reckons it is imperative to stay in a positive state of mind. “Everything is positive. Depends on your point of view but in my position it is necessary to think that everything is good, everything is positive. Everybody’s ready, everybody wants to do their best because in football if you are losing energy in extra things it’s difficult for everybody.”