Bengaluru eye return to semis

Hosts are favourites against Blasters in ISL playoff

There are minor tinkerings and major planning at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium as Bengaluru FC are just hours away from taking on Kerala Blasters in the Indian Super League playoff clash on Friday.

The previous visit saw some fans clash in the stands, and so, work and thoughts have gone in to ensure that does not happen again.

The fixtures between the two south Indian sides have become marquee games of the ISL calendar, notwithstanding the sanitised Kolkata derby. That it ended up being the first knockout game of the ISL season is serendipitous.

Few would have expected Bengaluru to be in this position at the turn of the year. They looked down and out, struggling for momentum and results. There was a change in the upper echelons of the club too, as the pressure mounted. But Lady Luck is fickle.

An irresistible, and at times scarcely believable, run of eight straight wins meant that not only have Bengaluru taken over the league by storm but now look favourites against a Kerala side, who at one point in the season looked like a possible contender for the title.

Yes, that last part feels a world away now as the form Kerala showed has long since dwindled. The Blasters have won just one of their last five games, and their away form has been woeful with just three wins on the road all season.

Granted the Kanteerava will see its fair share of Blasters fans, it hardly feels like an away game at times, but the onus will be on coach Ivan Vukomanovic, the architect of this team's rise over the past two seasons and the X-factor, to stop a Bengaluru side on a roll. The Serbian spoke about winning and winning 'ugly' since nothing but the result matters in a knockout game. But the question is, can they?

Head-to-head will tell you there is little to separate the teams this season but Bengaluru have shown they deal with adversity.

"We've beaten some good teams, including Kerala, so we'll go into this game with a strong spirit and confidence," admitted Grayson on the eve of the game.

"It's a one-off game and I'm sure the atmosphere is going to be electric. We have an advantage playing at home. The approach will be the same as the last game, playing with our heads and our hearts and not making mistakes."

Defence has been the foundation for Bengalru's uptick in form. The cleverness of Javi Hernandez and the heart of Rohit Kumar in the middle complements the speed and movement of Roy Krishna and Sivasakthi Narayanan up front. In a league where hardly anyone plays with two strikers, this pairing has caused a real headache.

And it will be challenging for Blasters to negate that threat, particularly since BFC play so well on the counter and can find quality long balls, because they will be without Ivan Kaliuzhnyi, who is suspended, in the middle.

For the visitors, much of their hopes reside on the slender but talented shoulders of Adrian Luna, who can decide games on his own, and striker Dimitrios Diamantakos. Bengaluru had done well to keep Luna silent the last time around but if Vukamanovic can devise a plan to keep the Uruguayan in influential positions, that could be a game-changer.

That said, one would expect the game to be decided in moments - a mistake or a bit of magic - as both teams are unlikely to take a gung-ho approach. And in a knockout game, one moment is all that is needed.