AIFF Media Team

KOZHIKODE: Hero I-League 2022-23 champions RoundGlass Punjab FC will lock horns with Hero Indian Super League 2022-23 finalists Bengaluru FC in their second game in Group A of the Hero Super Cup. The match will take place at the EMS Corporation Stadium in Kozhikode on Wednesday, April 12.

RoundGlass Punjab will go into the game on the back of a 3-1 defeat to Kerala Blasters in the opener. Currently, the Mohali-based franchise are bottom of Group A and will hope to get their first points on the board.

On the other hand, Bengaluru, who narrowly missed out on the Hero ISL title, will be hungry to grab a piece of silverware to end the season. The Sunil Chhetri-led side were held to a draw by Sreenidi Deccan FC in the opener on April 8 and are in second place in Group B, behind leaders and arch-rivals Kerala Blasters.

Ahead of the match, RoundGlass Punjab Head Coach Staikos Vergetis spoke about the threat that Bengaluru FC will pose and how his team will cope with it. “Defensively, we will have to be very good in order to reduce the speed and quality of their key players,” he said.

He also expanded on the areas of improvement for his team after their defeat in their previous game. “I believe the team followed the tactical plan very well in the last game. The only thing we need to change is to avoid individual mistakes. These mistakes cost us the game against Kerala Blasters."

Bengaluru Head Coach Simon Grayson focussed on the positives from their first game and discussed the way forward. “The way we played in the first 20 minutes, we could've got 2-3 more goals and made the job a lot easier," he said.