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Buoyant Bengaluru FC take on New Radiant in away leg

| APRIL 25, 2018, 07:40 PM IST
Buoyant Bengaluru FC take  on New Radiant in away leg

AGENCIES  

MALE  

New Radiant SC will host Bengaluru FC in a fourth round 2018 AFC Cup Group E fixture at the National Stadium in Male on Wednesday. The kick-off is at 4.30 pm IST.  

The Indian side lead the table with the nine points and the Maldivian champions have six points in their kitty and are a place below as they enter the second half of the group stage. Two weeks ago, it was Nishu Kumar’s injury-time goal that rescued out a narrow 1-0 win in Bengaluru, thus ending New Radiant’s unbeaten run of 22 games in all official competitions.  

Revenge will be on their mind as a loss for the Maldivian Blues will signal the end of their continental participation. A concerning factor will also be form as Oscar Bruzon’s men come off a shock 2-1 loss against Victory SC in the local Male League on Saturday.  

Defender Jorge Gotor was left out during the weekend as Rilwan Waheed was tried out with the Spaniard suspended for Wednesday’s tie as Bruzon will continue with the same 4-3-1-2 system. Ali Ashfaq will be the one to watch out for as the Maldives legend has already racked up 11 goals this calendar year. Spanish forward Guillem Marti Misut will have the spotlight hover him as he has been less impressive and the onus will be on him to ease the pressure off Ashfaq and Ali Fasir in attack.  

Bengaluru arrive in the tiny island nation after having lifted the inaugural edition of the Super Cup by beating East Bengal 4-1 in the final on Friday, capping off the Indian domestic club season. While Albert Roca has fielded second-string sides in the AFC Cup games, the idea of not experimenting and going all out to virtually seal their spot with two games in hand will be tempting. As so, the full Indian contingent has travelled. Even in the last match, New Radiant had much of the possession and it was only with the introduction of Sunil Chhetri, the JSW Group-owned side could find the breakthrough.  

Bengaluru FC, who have been unbeaten in the Maldives will look to make the most of the current AFC Cup. Finishing runners-up in the Indian Super League (ISL) earlier this season denies them entry into Asia in 2019. However, in their fourth successive appearance in this tournament, Bengaluru have won all three matches at the National Stadium in Male. The most recent of which is the 3-2 win over TC Sports Club during the qualification round.  

The Indian side escaped narrowly at home but this will be their toughest task yet in the AFC Cup this season. Roca will bring on his first-team regulars in quest of a win. For Bruzon, it will be a matter to hold on for survival in the competition.  

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