THE

BOSS
Good evening, Bengaluru
The start of the new season must bring
with it so many different feelings, some
positive, some apprehensive. But I am
certain that the joy of making it to the
Fortress to be with your family in the
stands and on the pitch, must override
every other emotion. We feel the same.
As we begin our season with today’s game,
I would like to let you all know that you
have always played an important role in our
success. This team has familiar faces, new
ones and a good bunch of youngsters too,
but what’s common to all of them is that
they will have your voice, love and support.
Like we always say at this club, we’re in
this together! Have a great evening.

I would like to extend a warm welcome to Love,

John Gregory and his team to Bengaluru. Carles Cuadrat
Chennaiyin start the season as champions
and nine other teams, including us will be
looking to wrest the title from them in what
I am certain will be an intense season.
Battles between Bengaluru and Chennaiyin
have been tough, both on the pitch and in
the stands and I expect nothing
different today.
The last time the two teams
played each other, the
circumstances and stage
were totally different. I
remember flying down
from Spain to watch the
final from the confines
of the stands. To say
that we were all
disappointed would be
putting it very mildly. No
matter how long you’ve
been around football,
nothing quite prepares you for
a loss in a final.

However, starting today, the slate is clean

and the challenge lies ahead of us. This
club has always found itself either winning
trophies or reaching positions where it’s
one step away from winning one. And
that’s where we will strive to be.

On a personal note, I cannot be happier

that Bengaluru FC is my first club as a
head coach. I’ve shared two fantastic
years with all of you – my extended
family – and it pained me to leave
mid-way last season because of
circumstances beyond my control. So
to be able to come back to all of you is
a very special feeling.
TO CAP IT OFF
Hello, everyone!
Now that we – you and us –
have had a fair bit of time
to dust off the disappoint-
ment of not progressing in
the AFC Cup, I’d like to
believe we start this fresh
chapter of our season with
a renewed belief. Success
and titles are very hard to
forget at a football club,
but equally hard to let go
are the times when you fell
just short.
The club is only its sixth
year of existence, but we’ve
experienced both those
sentiments more than just
a few times. Personally, I
find it hard to take a
positive from falling short
at the last hurdle. But
when things slowly settle
down, you realise how
much you have done
consistently right to give
yourself a shot at a title.
It’s the one thing you did
wrong at the end and it
shouldn’t discount all the
good you’ve done through
the year. Instead, you come
back with a steely resolve
to make amends.
I am hoping this is how
we approach the new
season of the Indian
Super League.
We have a potential
cracker for an opening
game against the current
champions of the League
and while it is important to
start right, it’s equally key
to step into this fixture with
the right mentality. We’ve
been training well and
hard these past couple of
months and now is when
we put everything we have
worked upon, into practice.
Games against Chennaiyin
have always been close
and feisty encounters and
these are contests you
want to be part of. I’m also
well aware of how heated
things get between both
sets of fans and while it’s
great for the league and
football in India,
let’s always ensure it never
gets ugly.
Speaking about support,
I’ve been told our fans are
working on a banner and
it’s a good time to let you
know that we always look
forward to seeing what all
of you unfurl. Many times it
goes on to provide that last
dose of inspiration that we
need before kick off.
All of us, players and staff,
are looking forward to
walking out at the Fortress
tonight. I’m really happy to
be able to share a dressing
room with some of the
younger boys who have
made their way up the
ranks into the senior team.
They have a point to prove
this season, and hopefully
with some exciting football
we’ll look to put a smile on
your faces.
Don’t ever stop backing
the Blues!

HOME, AWAY FROM HOME
The two teams faced off three times last
season, twice in the League phase and
once in the grand finale. The first leg in
Bengaluru saw a late goal from Dhanpal
Ganesh give Chennaiyin the win while the
return leg had Chhetri, Miku and Boithang
strike in the Blues’ dominant 3-1 win.
Chennaiyin who triumphed in the final at
the Fortress winning 3-2 continued the
trend of away wins as we still await a
home winner in this tie. Will the Blues
break the trend at the Fortress tonight?
YOUNG AND WILLING
With both sides focusing on youth, they
have signed a combined eleven players
under the age of 21 in their 25-man squad.
Chennaiyin’s five youngsters, Jerry
Lalrinzuala (20), Anirudh Thapa (20),
Laldinliana Renthlei (20), Bedashwor
Singh (19) and Hendry Antonay (18) will be
up against Bengaluru’s six in Nishu Kumar
(21), Gursimrat Singh Gill (21), Sairuat
Kima (20), Bidyananda Singh (20), Ajay
Chhetri (19) and Aditya Patra (18).
FIGURE FIVE
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
There are three new foreigners on each
side in Eli Sabiá (Brazil), Carlos Salom
(Palestine), Andrea Orlandi (Spain) for
Chennayin and Chencho Gyeltshen
(Bhutan), Xisco Hernandez (Spain) and
Albert Serran (Spain) for the Blues. With
only five foreigners allowed on the pitch, it
will be interesting to see how John
Gregory and Carles Cuadrat pick and
choose on this front.
WHAT’S A CLEAN SHEET?
They’ve met all of three times but
Bengaluru-Chennaiyin games have been
feisty and laden with goals, to say the
least. A total of 12 goals have been scored
between the teams no one’s managed to
come away with a clean sheet. Fortunes
swing like the proverbial pendulum in this
tie and it’s turning out to be a delight for
the neutral.
THE TOUCHLINE TUSSLE
Chennaiyin have retained their
title-winning coach John Gregory while the
Blues brought back former Assistant
Coach Carles Cuadrat to lead them this
season. With both sides opting for
continuity, we’re predicting a familiar
philosophy being employed. But with
football, you can never tell!
BLUES
SQUAD

1 I GURPREET SINGH SANDHU

2 I RAHUL BHEKE
3 I ALBERT SERRAN
4 I SAIRUATKIMA
5 I JUAN GONZALEZ
6 I ERIK PAARTALU
7 I MIKU
8 I KEAN LEWIS
10 I HARMANJOT KHABRA
11 I SUNIL CHHETRI
13 I RINO ANTO
14 I DIMAS DELGADO
15 I BIDYANANDA SINGH
17 I BOITHANG HAOKIP
18 I SEMBOI HAOKIP
19 I XISCO HERNANDEZ
21 I UDANTA SINGH
22 I NISHU KUMAR
23 I SORAM POIREI
26 I ASHEER AKHTAR
27 I CHENCHO GYELTSHEN
32 I ADITYA PATRA
33 I GURSIMRAT SINGH
35 I AJAY CHHETRI
36 I ALTAMASH SAYED

Head Coach
CARLES CUADRAT

Assistant Coach
GERARD ZARAGOZA
 SQUAD

KARANJIT SINGH I 1
TONDONBA SINGH I 3
GREGORY NELSON I 7
CARLOS SALOM I 8
ANDREA ORLANDI I 10
THOI SINGH I 11
JEJE LALPEKHLUA I 12
ELI SABIA I 13
INIGO CALDERON I 14
ANIRUDH THAPA I 15
PANDIYAN SINIVASAN I 16
JERRY LALRINZUALA I 18
RAPHAEL AUGUSTO I 19
MOHAMMED RAFI I 20
ISAAC VANMALSAWMA I 24
ZOHMINGLIANA RALTE I 25
LALDINLIANA RENTHLEI I 26
MAILSON ALVES I 27
GERMANPREET SINGH I 28
FRANCISCO FERNANDES I 30
SANJIBAN GHOSH I 33
ZONUNNAWIA I 34
HENDRY ANTONAY I 35
NIKHIL BERNARD I 39
BEDASHWOR SINGH I 49

Head Coach
JOHN GREGORY

Assistant Coach
PAUL GROVES

CHENNAIYIN
PREVIEW
OCCASION
OR NOT,
FORTRESS HOLDS
PROMISE OF
A CRACKER
chance for redemption, a shot at
settling a score, a no-pressure
start to a brand new season or just
the first step of what’s a marathon and not
a sprint – whichever way you chose to look
at Sunday’s big-money clash between
Bengaluru FC and Chennaiyin FC, be
assured of the fixture following tradition
and playing out to be a cracker.
John Gregory’s men went down a goal,
responded with three of their own and
then conceded harmlessly late to beat
Bengaluru and be crowned champions at
the Fortress, last season. The setting
tonight is completely different but neither
Gregory, nor Carles Cuadrat would want to
start the season with a stutter even if they
can afford to do so.
The Blues assembled in July and headed
to Spain for a pre-season that was full of
lessons handed by teams like Barcelona B
and Villareal B and Cuadrat admits his
side returned from the tour, wiser and
stronger. Bengaluru’s AFC Cup Inter-Zone
semfinal didn’t quite go to plan but it did
give the Blues more time to ponder on
aspects they need to work on. Cuadrat’s
men then squeezed in a few more games
in Bengaluru in what was a last phase of
ironing out the chinks.
The friendlies also featured experienced
centre-back Albert Serran who is expected
to partner Juanan Gonzalez at the back
and lend the defence some much-needed
stability. Things have slowly begun coming
together for Cuadrat and he will hope his
team don’t take too long to find their
rhythm. What will surely help is the fact
that the Blues assembled much earlier
than most ISL teams given their AFC Cup
commitments.
John Gregory’s midfield, meanwhile, was
dealt a little blow after Dhanpal Ganesh
was ruled out of the first phase of the
League with an injury. A feisty competitor,
the midfielder’s absence will also rob the
game of some of the off-the-ball shenani-
gans and confrontations that this tie
usually sees.
Like Bengaluru, Chennaiyin too have
shopped for three new foreigners this
season in Eli Sabia, Andrea Orlandi, and
Carlos Salom. But how the Englishman
chooses to roll out his foreigners makes
for interesting guessing.
Not enough can be said about the prowess
that the Blues possess in attack with Miku,
Chhetri and Udanta leading the charge.
However, they will come up against the
muscle and the experience of Mailson
Alves and Inigo Calderon which makes for
a fantastic battle. Interestingly, both teams
have conceded in every game they’ve
played against each other and Sunday’s tie
could stretch that statistic.
THE BIG STORY
e isn’t so certain about the Spanish
equivalent of the idiom ‘to fit like a
glove’ but Carles Cuadrat admits
he’d use it without second thought as an
answer to why he’d chosen to start,
probably the biggest phase of his career in
football, at a club that needs three flights
to get to, from home.
Cuadrat comes with pedigree, had more
than just hints of being a leader even when
the designation on his name card at his
table said something else, and backed
himself enough to have options as he
readied to make the transition to being
boss. “I gave it thought and couldn’t arrive
at a better option than Bengaluru from
where to start my career as a coach. The
list of things that helped this choice are so
many – I know the club and the potential it
has, the club trusts me and knows me and
the way I work. But most importantly, I
was coming to a team of players who can
give any coach the possibility to go after
every title that is there for the taking. You
don’t think twice with a champion team.”
Funnily, everyone but Cuadrat seems more
upbeat about this big transition. But it isn’t
because he’s deliberately choosing to play
it down. It’s because he believes his love
for transitions on the pitch stand true
outside of it too. “Alberto (Roca) was the
first one to tell me many years ago, that I
was going to be a very good head coach.
He said that I should finish my studies and
be a head coach. The truth is that being a
leader is in my nature. I moved from Barca
B to a Segunda Division Club when I was
20-years-old. After three months there,
the coach gave me the armband in a team
that had veterans playing in it. I have been
a leader for a while now, so it was very
normal for me.”
The truth is that being a
leader is in my nature. I
moved from Barca B to a
Segunda Division Club when
I was 20-years-old. After
three months there, the
coach gave me the armband
in a team that had veterans
playing in it.
Everyone wants a first to be special and
Cuadrat isn’t any different on that front.
It’s just that he won’t let nerves or anxiety
play any role in the process. “I cannot be
anxious because the reality is that we have
won five trophies in five years. I cannot be
thinking that I must win something
because I can’t be the first coach not to
win something. If you look around the
world, there are good moments and there
are bad ones. What I have to do is to trust
my people, the club, the players and in my
philosophy. We are working very hard and
what matters next is the football.
“There are things in your memory because
they are special moments that happened
and you remember. I remember the first
time the Spanish National team called me
to be a part of their squad. I remember the
SEASON 6
EP03 CARLES
CUADRAT
day we won the first trophy with FC
Barcelona. It was a junior Spanish Cup but
it meant the world. It’s the same now. It
could happen again with Bengaluru FC.
This club has given me the opportunity to
do something and if it happens, I will
always remember that it came with this
very special club.”
If you know that the
supporters like you then you
feel ready. When you know
that they trust you, you
want to repay them with
happiness.
Dressing rooms often share a different
relationship with the second-in-command.
When it comes to the good cop, bad cop
routine, his is always the more likeable
role. So does taking over a team you were
once an assistant of, change the way you
behave with your players? Are the laughs
restricted to season-ending parties? Is the
demeanour sterner after a few retakes?
“What’s important in life is to never try
being a person you are not. We’ve changed
just a few things between us – about the
way we communicate, about the code and
about respect. The players and I know
each other equally well. We are smart
enough to understand that things don’t
have to be different. We’re letting this
relationship take its natural course. I am
dealing with a lot of experienced players
who know what role they have to play in a
new story,” opines Cuadrat.
The one relationship that doesn’t change
even by a bit is between that of Cuadrat
and the fans. They loved him then, they
love him now – it’s simple as that. And for
that, the boss is grateful. “There are a lot
of teams where people don’t know who the
assistant coach is but Alberto used to
always tell me with amusement, ‘I’ve
never seen a stadium where people shout
and clap for the assistant coach’. If you
know that the supporters like you then you
feel ready. When you know that they trust
you, you want to repay them with
happiness and I really hope we can do that
with the way we play.”
ERIK GREGORY
PAARTALU NELSON

MIDFIELD DUEL
Defensive midfielders by trade, Erik and Gregory’s battle in
the centre of the park will be one to look out for. Both fancy
tough tackling and don’t hesitate joining in attack. In fact, the
duo have had a fair number of goals and assists to their name.
Given either team’s playing style, both will play a crucial role
on the pitch tonight.

UDANTA JERRY
SINGH LALRINZUALA

ATTACK v DEFENCE
In this battle of youth, one of the Blues’ longest serving players
in Udanta will go head on with Chennaiyin defender Jerry on
the right flank. While Udanta is blessed with pace, Jerry, with
his hard-tackling game, has cemented his place in the
Chennayin squad over the last two seasons. Indispensable to
either side, this tie pits two of India’s brightest young
footballers against each other and is one that we’re certain will
prove to be an entertaining sub-plot to the big game.
TOUGH TALK
KING OF
THE
He Won’t Breeze Past An Answer The Way He Would An
Oncoming Defender. But In Slow, Stuttered Deliveries
We Got ‘The Flash’ To Tell Us The Story Of That Final
Against Chennaiyin FC, And A Little More...
FLANKS s the confetti sprinkled down on the
turf at the Fortress, for the second
time off the bodies of an opposition
team during his time here, Udanta says he
learned a very important lesson; that time
erases every win and every goal if there is
no trophy at the end of it.
“In the days leading up to the final, I got a
lot of messages wishing me luck, but
nothing quite prepares you for defeat. I
remember standing by the touchline in
2015, after we lost to Bagan. I clenched my
fists when we were handed the medals in
Doha, and then it happened again last year
in the ISL. We had a great season, but very
soon nobody will remember that because
someone else took the trophy home. We
have to be better this year, because a silver
medal is just another way of telling us that
we lost gold.”
We’ll make a confession here; it took video
highlights from the final to confirm that it
was Udanta who grabbed the two assists
for the Blues in the final. The goals, one
the opener and another a late ray of hope,
came as headers from Sunil Chhetri and
Miku, two players Udanta says he learns
from every day.
“I couldn’t have chosen two players better
than Sunil bhai and Miku to learn from at
this stage in my career. At the TFA, we used
TOUGH TALK
to watch videos of Sunil bhai together and
now I get to share the dressing room with
him and it really is an unbelievable feeling.
Miku comes with the experience in playing
at the highest level and he teaches me
composure. He’s always guiding me in
training and the three of us, we’re always
looking to be more in sync than we are
already,” Udanta says.
We have to be better this
year, because a silver
medal is just another way
of telling us that we
lost gold.
He’s been provider to seven of the Blues’
goals this campaign, the most by any player
in the League,but when will Udanta get his
shooting boots on? For all his travails
(he’s the most fouled player in most
games), Udanta has just five League goals
in BFC colors.
“This is my fifth season at the club, and I’ve
played most of that time down the flanks.
I’m not a striker, but yes, I know I should be
chipping in with more goals. People forget
that I’m only 22-years-old and I’m still
learning every day. Hopefully, very soon, I’ll
be more consistent in finding the net. Until
then, I’m happy being the provider.”
 NEXT IN LINE

THE BIG
STEP UP Bengaluru FC B - the club’s ambitious project of creating a supply
line of players that are fit to don the club’s famed blue, turns a
special corner today. As many as five boys from that squad have
been picked up by the boss to be part of the ISL season. Here’s a
look at the boys that are ready to become men…

ASHEER BFC B’s Player of the Year for 2017-18, Asheer

was an ever-present figure for Naushad
AKTHAR Moosa’s men in all competitions. Boasting
multiple years of I-League and 2nd Division
experience, Asheer brings leadership to the
dressing room and physical strength at the back
and will provide good cover to Juanan and
Serran. Asheer had his moment last season
when former coach Albert Roca handed him
game time in two AFC Cup fixtures.
2nd Div. League, Apps:9, Goals:3

BIDYANANDA A product of the AIFF Elite Academy,

Manipur-born Bidyananda was selected from
SINGH the Sports Authority of India to be a part of the
India U13 and U14 sides. In 2014, after making
the all-star team following a one-week camp at
the Aspire Academy in Qatar, the 20-year-old
was scouted by Spanish side Barcelona. After a
year-long stint at Atletico de Kolkata in 2016,
Bidya joined the Blues as part of their reserve
side a year ago, but was dealt an early blow
following an ACL injury. Now fit, Bidyananda will
be looking forward to make a mark with the
senior boys.
2nd Div. League, Apps:8
 BFC B

26 35

36
32 15

AJAY Part of the BFC Residential Academy, Ajay who

first joined the Blues’ youth setup in 2016,
CHHETRI becomes the first BFC Academy graduate to be
named into the main team for the Indian Super
League. The youngster gets his due after
impressing in the U18 Youth League and the 2nd
Division League for BFC B last season.
2nd Div. League, Apps: 4

ALTAMASH Like Asheer, Altamash too brings in experience

of playing in the I-League and the 2nd Division,
SAYED and started most games for BFC B last season.
A creative midfielder, the youngster has the
ability to produce openings in the rival half and
forms the bridge between defence and attack.
2nd Div. League, Apps: 10

ADITYA A member of the India U16, U17 and U19 teams,

Aditya Patra joins the goalkeeping ranks
PATRA alongside Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and Soram
Poirei. His first ever professional contract has
come with the Blues, having represented
Southern Sports Association in Kolkata.
A shot-stopper with the potential to reach the
very top, Aditya faces strong competition and
has vowed to work hard in his first full season
as a professional footballer.
2nd Div. League, Apps:6, Clean Sheets: 1
SOCCER SCHOOLS
here’s Only So Much That
Classrooms And Blackboards Can
Teach You, Most Other Things Can
Be Learned With Sport, Feels Pravesh
Nahar, Whose Son Ved Seems To Have
Taken To The BFC Soccer Schools
Rather Fondly…
My son is only six years old, and he may not
even know all the rules of football just yet,
but the reason I send him to BFC Soccer
Schools is because it is important for any
growing child to develop a winning
mentality, to know the importance of hard
work and why they must follow instructions.
I would recommend BFC
Soccer Schools to any
parent; it’s where my child
learns the most.
The coaches at BFC Soccer Schools are
very friendly and Ved has really bought into
the whole idea of playing football. It’s
something I see him enjoying so much.
If I am to be honest, he likes cricket
better because it’s more of a one
versus one sport where it’s a battle
between the bowler and the batsman in
the broader sense.
But, football is more physical and involves
him being more active throughout and I’m
really happy with the way the management
at Soccer Schools has developed the
structure of the programme.
Ved goes to class three times a week and
I’ve never once heard him complain about
having to go to ‘school’ a second time in
the day! It says a lot about the program
that BFC has put together because they
are never doing the same things on two
different days. I definitely believe that
sport teaches a lot of things that
classrooms cannot and being an athlete
myself, I want my son to learn the same
things on the field that I did on the track.
Further to that, the fact that these children
play competitive games every now and
then and that the club is able to organize
Grassroots Programs is a very big plus
point and that’s why I would recommend
BFC Soccer Schools to any parent; it’s
where my child learns the most.
at a ground
near you!
AG Football Club, Whitefield
Dr Ambedkar Nagar Rd,
Next to Prestige Mayberry,
Whitefield, Bengaluru - 560067
Age Group : 5 - 14 yrs BBMP Ground, Vijayanagar
Hampi Nagar Playground,
Opp Hampinagar Bus Stand,
Hampinagar, Vijayanagar - 560040
Age Group : 5 - 14 yrs

Tiger5, Manyata Tech Park

Manyata Multi-Level Car Parking,
Level 8, L7, Manayata,
Manyata Tech Park, Nagavara,
Bengaluru, Karnataka 560045
Age Group : 5 - 14 yrs

CAPSA, Yelahanka
Come And Play Sports Academy,
Doddaballapur Road, Honnenahalli,
Bengaluru - 560064
Age Group : 5 - 16 yrs

GET IN TOUCH: 095916-53564, 080953-55518, 096207-24443