ISL 2021 final: Can ATK Mohun Bagan surpass the Mumbai City FC Challenge?

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When the two champion teams of the ongoing edition of ISL season 7 meet on Saturday to decide the eventual winner. It will be the clash to look out for as Mumbai City FC who defeated ATKMB on both occasions of the ongoing season.

It will be interesting to witness that whether ATKMB will surpass the challenge of Mumbai City FC on the night of the final which will be absolutely different ball game.

Also, there is a lot at stake when the two best sides compete for the title with their coaches starting with Sergio Lobera who will be eyeing for the first ISL title as a coach with Mumbai City FC.

On the other end, Antonio Habas who is serving as the coach of ATKMB will be looking to replicate his phenomenal record when his side competes against the islanders.

Mumbai head coach Lobera previously led FC Goa to a runner-up finish in the 2018-19 edition, losing the final to Bengaluru FC  while ATKMB’s Habas has a clean 2-0 record in summit clashes, having managed two trophies with ATK – prior to the merger with Mohun Bagan – including 2019-20.

Both the teams have identical journey towards their path to the finals where both teams have sealed 12 victory, four loss, four draws and 40 points each. It will be interesting to see that whether ATKMB will keep that scar of losing two back to back matches in the past when they will step on to play final against the same side.

“It’s all in past; we need to look to the future,” Lobera said. “We know that they [ATKMB] are a very good team with very good players and have good momentum. But the most important thing is to focus on ourselves. We need to work 100% in our style of play and our idea,” he said.

Lobera will miss the services of Mandar Rao Dessai who is out with a suspension while Habas on the other end will have full squad to choose-out from. The only area of concern for ATKMB will be the state of midfielder Edu Garcia’s recovery from injury and whether he is match-fit.