FC Goa has gained attention around the globe for their unbeaten run in the AFC Champions League. They were considered to be underdogs from the start of the Champions League but the man with the plan Juan Ferrando changed every misconceptions that the rest of the world had on FC Goa and moreover Indian Football.
A Look Back at FC Goa's AFC Champions League 2021 Campaign So Far
Before the start of the Champions League campaign, Ferrando gave a strong statement that, "The players have to learn and be competitive. I don't like to lose 6-0 and say we learned a lot. That's not the correct approach." Ferrando has acted according to his words. He proved that good tactics and a confident team with positive minded players can make any giants to get on their knees in front of them.
We saw a great mix of defensive and attacking effort from the team against Qatari giants Al Rayyan in Matchday one which ended up in a 0-0 draw. This match laid the foundation stone for the new era of Indian Football.
In the next match against the UAE club Al Wahda, we saw a much more attacking Goan side which even came so close to scoring twice. Ferrando played both of the matches with the same linup.
The Spanish coach went with a 4-1-4-1 formation at the start of both matches. This formation changed to a 4-2-3-1 formation after the first 10 minutes of the game. This new setup drew Glan Martins deeper to the defence along with the Goa's captain Edu Bedia. These two were also supported by Ortiz on the left and Alexander Romario Jesuraj on the right when it was needed. These two along with Brandon Fernandes were a bit more attacking in the second match.
They created much more opertunities (8 more than their previous encounter against Al Rayyan). In the first match against Al Rayyan, Seriton's overlapping runs were great threats for the opposition. We could see much more attacking from Sanson Pereira in the second match. Seriton's pace and Sanson's quick feet has been threats for the oppositions.
The only drawback that FC Goa had in both of the matches was the absence of a clinical striker. Ishan Pandita hasn't produced much from both the matches. He has been very defensive minded in both the matches which allowed the opponents to have the ball in their half freely but it also put enormous pressure on them to play the ball in the Gaurs' half.
Devendra Murgoankar has impressed the fans and critics after his performance in the Al Wahda match when he came onto the field as a substitute for the lone striker Ishan Pandita. The one change that the fans expect from Juan Ferrando to make ahead of the clash against the Iranian champions Persepolis FC is to involve Devendra in the starting line up instead of Ishan Pandita.
Most of the fans believe that Ishan unlocks his full potential after coming onto the field as a substitute. He is currently nicknamed as the 'Official Super-sub of Indian Football' after his performance in the Indian Super League after coming on as a substitute.
Whatever the changes or the results maybe, the name of FC Goa will be written in the history books of Indian Football as they are the first Indian club to play in the Champions League.
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