Eastern Bengal, Mohun Bagan Slothoorns in the quarterfinals while Kolkata Derby returns to Durand Cup

The Salt Lake Stadium is completely ready to organize the seismic collision of Indian football, while Mohun Bagan Super Giant and East Bengal breathe new life into their century-plus-old rivalry in the quarterfinals of the Durand Cup Under Lights on Sunday.

This is the first opportunity in the season in which the traditional rivals meet in full force to decide a semi -final in the third oldest football tournament in the world.

The competition will see a revolution of Fervor that the organizers of the tournament have encouraged to advertise as the opportunity in which «pride, passion and history in collide». The two parties have previously met this season in the Calcutta Football League, but that competition is being discounted from the consideration, mainly because both teams used domestic youth team players in their respective line -ups, in accordance with the No Foreigner rule for all state competitions.

East Bengal won the CFL competition 2-1 and the performance of its juniors will certainly inspire the seniors to assume Mohun Bagan’s power.

Expectations in both camps are high, because a new look East Bengal trips the ILL Double Crown holder Mohun Bagan, which has dominated the rivalry in recent years.

In Durand Cup, Mohun Bagan East Bengal defeated 1-0 to win the title in 2023, while their meeting in the group stage in the 2024 edition was abandoned because of large protests that the city seize. The general record in the tournament gives East Bengal the slight lead because the team won nine times the collision compared to the eight victories for Mohun Bagan. The remaining five games in a total count of 22 meetings have ended in draws.

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While the Mariners won two league screens and an equal number of cups in the past three seasons, East Bengal has not won the best competition in the country in the past two decades (the last copy of success is the title of the National Football League in 2004) and has never been able to finish above the ninth place in the Isl.

Eastern Bengal seems to be in reconstruction mode under the supervision of the experienced Spanish coach Oscar Bruzon. The red and gold brigade has renewed the schedule of the foreigners with the recording of Hamid Ahadad (Morocco), Miguel Ferreira (Brazil) in the attack and the Palestinian midfielder Basim Rashid with Dimitrios Diamantakos and Saul Crespo retained by the team.

Oost -Bengal has also collected a number of good Indian names, including Bipin Singh, Edmund Lalrindika and Martand Raina, which bring more quality. Left-back Jay Gupta of FC Goa was also signed, but it is unlikely that the player will enter the derby, since the tournament rules give up a player who is registered 48 hours before the game, informed coach Bruzon.

Eastern Bengal will also miss Rashid, who had to leave the side because of mourning in the family. «We started the reconstruction process last May. We were not happy with what happened last year. So our idea this year is to be more dominant, to be closer to the best clubs in India,» said Oscar Bruzon about the new look East Bengal team.

«We are very happy with the players who have become a member who have shown a great mentality in the group stage matches. But the game tomorrow is another. Let’s see how far we are from the team that made a big impact in Indian football last year,» he added as he had the challenge of his fellow countryman and counterparty Jose Mohun, Holms’s Mohun.

Mohun Bagan, after releasing the Scottish playmaker Greg Stewart, has retained the rest of the foreigners, including the Australian trio Jamie Maclaren, Jason Cummings and Dimitri Petratos in the team’s attacking department. Defenders Tom Aldred and Alberto Rodriguez will continue with the club.

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“I understand that this is the Durand Cup, an official tournament and we want to win it all. But this is a competition for the season. And we will not see the best of Mohun Bagan. I am sure that we are not currently the best to see his team at the moment praised his team. Mohun Bagan is missing a few names with blessures.

«Manvir (Singh), Kiyan (Nassiri) and Subhasish (Bose) are still out of the team – no training, no time to recover,» inquired Molina as he explained that he should have the first team ready for the AFC Champions League two, which will be halfway in September.