The high-stakes ISL final will be a tactical showdown; two Spanish masterminds in focus
There are quite a few facets where Molina and Zaragoza’s fates align here. Besides their Spanish heritage, it is their first full season with the club
HYDERABAD: The stage is set for a high-stakes tactical showdown as Mohun Bagan Super Giant takes on Bengaluru FC in the ISL final at the iconic Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (VYBK) in Kolkata on April 12.
At the heart of this clash are two Spanish masterminds—José Molina (MBSG) and Gerard Zaragoza (BFC)—both no strangers to the big occasion.
Molina, who led ATK to the title in 2016, returns to the ISL finale in his first season back with MBSG. Zaragoza, formerly the assistant to Carles Cuadrat during BFC’s 2018-19 championship run, now gets his moment in the spotlight as head coach.
There are quite a few facets where Molina and Zaragoza’s fates align here. Besides their Spanish heritage, it is their first full season with the club.
While Zaragoza had joined Bengaluru FC midway through 2023-24, Molina entered the MBSG setup in the summer preceding this season.
Molina, who has won 23 of his 43 games in the ISL so far, with his victory percentage of 53.5% being the third highest such rate for any head coach in the competition (min. 10 games) behind only Albert Roca (66.7%) and Des Buckingham (57.4%), is refraining from calling out the favourites for the final, despite the game occurring in their home turf, where MBSG have been unbeaten this season.
“I think in the finals, nobody is a favourite. Anything can happen. Of course, we believe in ourselves. We trust in ourselves and in what we are doing. We think that if we are at our best, we are going to get the trophy,” he remarked in the buildup to the match.
Zaragoza’s men began the season with five consecutive wins and clean sheets, and looked in strong contention to at least finish in the top two until about December. January came as a surprise for the Blues, though, with the side losing four of their five matches, even dropping out of the top six momentarily.
Three wins and a draw in their last five league fixtures saw BFC settle for third place, before storming past Mumbai City FC and FC Goa in the playoffs.
The character shown by Zaragoza’s men in overcoming a difficult phase, coupled with the contributions of seasoned hands such as Sunil Chhetri, Rahul Bheke, and Alberto Noguera, propelled them into the final. Zaragoza blended their experience seamlessly with the youthful exuberance of players like Vinith Venkatesh, Suresh Singh Wangjam and Namgyal Bhutia at different phases of the season.
“We have Sunil Chhetri, these amazing foreigners, this amazing defensive Indian line, and the best goalkeeper in India. We are BFC. We need to remember that we have been in ISL, and we have played four finals. That says a lot,” Zaragoza issued a statement of intent before the final.
When Zaragoza undertook the Bengaluru FC job in December 2023, he stressed playing a positive brand of football. He has walked that talk with the Blues scoring 44 goals from inside the box this season – the highest amongst all sides. Their 51 big chances this season have been their highest such tally in a single campaign, and their 62.8% conversion rate this term is the team’s best in a single season of the competition. Molina’s MBSG, though, have not conceded a goal in their last seven home games, keeping a league-high 16 clean sheets.
With both teams playing yet another ISL final, whose tactical acumen will prevail on Saturday?
