Cuadrat extends BFC stay till 2021

Bengaluru FC and their Indian Super League winning coach Carles Cuadrat will continue their association after the Spaniard agreed to extend his stay with a new two-year deal that keeps him with the Blues till the end of the 2020-21 season, the club announced on Wednesday.

Cuadrat, in his first stint as head coach of a team, led BFC to their sixth title in as many seasons when they beat FC Goa in the ISL final.

“I am delighted to continue my stay at a club that functions like a closely-knit family. I have spent three years at Bengaluru FC and the fact that I’m willing to add two more, is testament of how happy I am at the club and in the city. We achieved success last season and I would like to build on it. Importantly, we will be competing in Asia again and that’s a challenge we are all relishing. All footballing reasons aside, the love and support the fans have shown me definitely had a part to play in my decision of signing on a new deal,” Cuadrat was quoted as saying by the club website.

Cuadrat, who arrived at the club as Albert Roca’s assistant in 2016, took over from his mentor last year. And while he kept the foundations that Roca laid, intact, Cuadrat brought his own ideas to the table that the dressing room were quick to credit as the reason the Blues got across the finish line in the ISL.

Under the Spaniard, Bengaluru became the first team in the history of the ISL to have won the title after finishing on top of the table in the group stages. The Blues also boasted of an unbeaten record at home through the season.