SOME HEROES MAKE HEADLINES AT THE BACK
MISTER’S NOTES
Good evening everyone,
While most sides are preparing for a last
home game of the season, we’re glad that we
will get to welcome you to the Fortress one
more time, after today. I remember the
disappointment I went through when
Barcelona crashed out of the Champions
League quarterfinal once, when I was a child.
Strangely, it was more to do with the
atmosphere that would have been created in
a semifinal, than the result.
For the second successive season, we have
given you fans the chance to participate in a
semifinal and that says a lot about how much
this club likes to compete for titles and
success. We started the season with the aim
of getting to the play-offs and we achieved it
with three games to spare. Ever since the
club’s foundation in 2013, it has been
consistently dishing out performances at
the highest level and that is something
very special.
Today, we take on fellow qualifiers FC Goa
and I would like to extend a warm welcome to
Sergio Lobera and his staff to the Fortress.
Both, us and Goa, have built a reputation of
playing a brand of football that entertains and
I don’t see anything different unfolding today.
Our clashes in the past have been exciting
and I hope we can produce yet another one of
those games.
Goa are in the middle of a good run and while
I cannot say the same about us, we have been
using this cushion to rotate the squad, hand
out rest to players who need it and give
minutes to those returning from injuries. We
have been working hard on things that need
to be ironed out and I am confident that the
team will respond. This will be the first game
that Erik Paartalu will miss at home in a year
and his injury highlights exactly why we
rotate the squad during a crucial time in
the season.
Though things didn’t go our way in Delhi, I
was particularly happy for Boithang who
grabbed his chance with both hands and
scored a wonderful goal. As we reach the
business end of the season, we will need
every single player in the best possible shape
– both physically and mentally – to help us
get across the line.
I know that mid-week games are tough for all
of you to make it to the Fortress, but I cannot
keep saying this enough, that we draw
tremendous strength from your voice in the
stands, and you would have noticed that more
than just once this season. While our
qualification to the play-off stages is sealed,
we would like to finish the league stages in
the best possible way and the attempt to do
that takes place every single day on the
training pitch.
Let’s all get behind the boys tonight, and then
once again a few days from now!
Love,
Carles

CATALAN CONNECT
Carles Cuadrat and Sergio Lobera have
sharpened their trade from the same
footballing school that is FC Barcelona.
The duo have managed to imbibe their
take on that philosophy into their respec-
tive teams over the last few seasons, and
tonight’s clash pits two of the most
entertaining teams in the League against
each other.
TUSSLE AT THE TOP
FC Goa’s win over Kerala on Monday saw
them go top of the table ahead of the Blues
on goal-difference, with both sides
having 31 points. With just two more rounds
to go, a win tonight will present either team a
good shot at finishing the League stages in
pole position. Goa did it in 2015 and the
Blues in 2017-18. Who will grab the
momentum tonight?
PREVIEW
FRESH LEGS
Cuadrat has stressed on the importance of
rotating his squad in the last few games.
Despite results not going his way, the need
to maintain the fitness of his squad has
taken precedence with a top-four berth
secured. With Goa sealing their spot in the
play-offs too, we can expect Lobera to make
a few changes tonight as well.
GOALS GALORE
With two of the highest scoring teams in
the League facing off against each other,
be sure to expect goals tonight. In fact, in
the three clashes between the teams so
far, there has only been one clean sheet,
one that Gurpreet kept at the Fortress last
season. Both teams have combined to
score twelve goals, seven by the Blues and
five by the Gaurs.
MIXED FORTUNES
The year 2019 has brought in mixed
fortunes for both sides. Goa, known for
winning games by managing more goals
than their opponents, has gone five games
unbeaten without conceding a single goal.
Meanwhile, the Blues who still have the
joint-best defence in the League, have won
just once in the last five games while
conceding nine goals.
BENG
SQUAD

URUF
1 I GURPREET SINGH SANDHU
2 I RAHUL BHEKE
3 I ALBERT SERRAN
4 I SAIRUAT KIMA
5 I JUAN GONZALEZ
6 I ERIK PAARTALU
7 I MIKU
8 I KEAN LEWIS
9 I LUISMA VILLA
10 I HARMANJOT KHABRA
11 I SUNIL CHHETRI

ENGA
13 I RINO ANTO
14 I DIMAS DELGADO
16 I MYRON MENDES
17 I BOITHANG HAOKIP
18 I SEMBOI HAOKIP
19 I XISCO HERNANDEZ
21 I UDANTA SINGH
22 I NISHU KUMAR
23 I SORAM POIREI
28 I PARAG SHRIVAS
32 I ADITYA PATRA
33 I GURSIMRAT SINGH
35 I AJAY CHHETRI
37 I EDMUND LALRINDIKA

HEAD COACH
CARLES CUADRAT

ASSISTANT COACH
GERARD ZARAGOZA
GAL
CGOA NIRMAL CHETTRI
HUGO BOUMOUS
AHMED JAHOUH
I
I
I
3
4
5

CB
CHINGLENSANA SINGH I 6

FCGO
MANDAR RAO DESSAI I 7
FERRAN COROMINAS I 8
MANVIR SINGH I 9
BRANDON FERNANDES I 10
MIGUEL FERNANDEZ I 11
JACKICHAND SINGH I 12
MOHAMMAD NAWAZ I 13
PRATESH SHIRODKAR I 15
CARLOS PENA I 17
LISTON COLACO I 19
SERITON FERNANDES I 20
SAVIOUR GAMA I 21
PRINCETON REBELLO I 22

LU
EDU BEDIA I 23

AFCG
LENNY RODRIGUES I 24
MOURTADA FALL I 25
LAXMIKANT KATTIMANI I 27
LALHMANGAIHSANGA I 28
ZAID KROUCH I 30
NAVEEN KUMAR I 32
MOHAMED ALI I 37

HEAD COACH
SERGIO LOBERA

ASSISTANT COACH
DERRICK PEREIRA

SQUAD
RUFC
FOOTBALL
BEYOND
While The Blues And The Gaurs Go To Battle Tonight,
Outside The Pitch, A Consistent Effort From Both
Teams Looks To Bridge The Gap Between The Clubs
And The Communities That Surround Them...

BOUNDARIES
Behind the glitz and glamor of their first
teams, and beyond what they do on the
pitch, Bengaluru Football Club and FC Goa
have a belief that is vital to their
philosophy; that the communities around
them are as important as their players, the
staff and any trophy they will ever win.
With FC Goa’s Força Goa foundation and
Bengaluru FC’s BFC Cares program, the
clubs aim to support local communities
through social responsibility programs,
soccer clinics, awareness campaigns, and
other charity events, all in a bid to give back
to the people who have shown the clubs
tremendous support since their inception.
THE FORÇA GOA FOUNDATION
The Força Goa Foundation has been
operational for nearly two years and was
officially launched in February, 2018.
Working in partnership with FC Goa, it aims
to create opportunities through grassroots
football for individuals to be a positive
influence in their communities.
Força Goa Foundation delivers a grassroots
football program that reaches out to
thousands of children across the State and
gives them healthy snacks and a diverse
set of life-skills including awareness about
their own well-being and the holistic
well-being of their community. Football
BE
OAGO
becomes a catalyst for awareness,
health, empowerment, leadership and
participation in creating a clean and
green Goa.
“At the Força Goa Foundation, we aim to
create a holistic grassroots football
movement, which not only develops the
quality of the game but also brings
communities together and influences
positive change in society,” says Akshay
Tandon, non-executive Chairman of Força
Goa Foundation and President of FC Goa.
BFC CARES
Marshalled by the club’s youth and BFC
Soccer Schools coaches, a BFC Cares’
football workshop sees less privileged
children from local communities go
through basic dribbling, passing and 1v1
drills. The sessions may additionally serve
as a platform for talented players who are
invited to trial with the Youth Development
Program’s elite squads.
BFC Cares has often partnered with various
charitable organizations in its endeavour to
give back to the community in diverse ways.
With collaborations with Magic Bus, Dream
A Dream, Sneha Care Home, Voice of Stray
Dogs and Shining Stars FC, to name a few,
the club has been able to affect change
in the community by showing support to
those organizations that share the
same blueprint.
The Recycle for Football project by Shining
Stars FC has been able to create a
self-sustainable model of football club
management, where its players, children
between the ages of 10 and 15, come
together and recycle waste plastic bottles
and use the funds collected to buy football
equipment and the like.
Bengaluru FC has also partnered with The
Ugly Indian, in a bid to clean up the streets
in the city. First team players and
management join the club’s supporters in a
spotfix, picking up rubble and painting the
walls in a bid to promote a cleaner city.
Sport, like life, has the intrinsic ability of
shaping personality. Bengaluru FC and FC
Goa, with its Social Responsibility
Programs, look to ensure that the
long-term future of Indian Football is safe,
with the knowledge that those with
potential will also have the opportunity to
succeed, and otherwise, become better
human beings.
AT THE TOP
P W D L GD PTS*

(Q) 1 16 9 4 3 18 31

(Q) 2 16 9 4 3 8 31

3 16 7 6 3 4 27

4 16 8 3 5 4 27

*as of 19 February 2019

FORM RUN
LAST FIVE GAMES BFC LAST FIVE GAMES GOA

W W W W
D D D
L L L

GOALS SCORED 7 GOALS SCORED 8

2 WINS 7 GOALS HEAD TO HEAD 5 GOALS 1 WIN

SPONSORS AND PARTNERS

BENGALURU FC
Garcia 35’, Delgado 82’
QUICK TAKE
Cruising and with one eye on a spot in the
play-offs, Albert Roca decided to take a
calculated gamble in leaving talismanic
striker Miku out of the squad, while Erik
Paartalu, Subhasish Bose and Udanta Singh
took their places on the bench against an
explosive FC Goa side who were in the
reckoning for a semifinal slot themselves.
SQUAD
Gurpreet Singh Sandhu started in goal and
his four-man defence comprised John
Johnson, Juanan Gonzalez, Nishu Kumar
and Rahul Bheke – a stubborn quartet.
Sitting in front of them were Dimas Delgado
and Lenny Rodrigues. Toni Dovale was
handed the No.10 role with Sunil Chhetri and
Edu Garcia for friends on the flanks, while
Semboi Haokip was tasked with waging
battle as the lone striker.
SANDHU SAVES
If the numbers were anything to go by, the
Blues were up against the most lethal attack
in the League. But Coro and the clan had to
get past the safest hands in the country and
Sandhu would keep popping up with
reminders. The Bengaluru ’keeper kept out a
Coro header with his feet and then flung
FLASHBACK
2 - 0 FC GOA
himself to get a big hand on Manvir Singh’s
rasping hit on target, all this inside the first
ten minutes of the game. The Blues had a
chance of their own in the 24th minute when
Semboi met Nishu’s cut-back only to see his
effort catch Goa ’keeper Naveen Kumar
square in the face.
GARCIA DELIVERS
Bengaluru weathered the storm and then
struck Goa with a little lightning of their own,
in the 35th minute. With two men standing
over a corner, Delgado allowed Dovale to curl
in a take that swung perfectly for Garcia to
loop over every white shirt and the orange
one of Kumar to give the Blues a lead at
the Fortress.
DELGADO’S FIRST
Bengaluru’s second on the night came in the
82nd minute when Goa struggled to get rid of
the ball on the edge of their box. A swarm of
blue shirts were lining up to have a go, but it
was Delgado who got to a nod down from
Dovale before picking the space between
Kumar’s legs to score his first ever goal for
the Blues. The win made Bengaluru FC the
first team to book a place in the semifinal,
but more important was the statement they
made on the night.
COVER STORY I BLUEPRINT

JUAN OF
A KIND
He’s The Sort Of Hero You’d
Find In The Fourth Row, Far
Left. No Flashbulbs,
Autographs Or Any Of That
Razzmatazz. Juanan
Gonzalez Will Do His Job
Perfectly, Every Single Day,
Wave Awkwardly And Slip
Out The Back…
“Juanan, you’re going to train with the first
team today.” Hands on hips, the
twenty-two-year-old spread his gaze around
the pitch, still struggling to come to terms
with what Manuel Pellegrini had just told
him. There was Raul and Guti – the ageless
wonders. Arjen Robben lurking at the far
end, Iker Casillas had his gloves strapped
on. Xabi Alonso and Cristiano Ronaldo were
standing over a ball. It doesn’t have to be a
set-piece always. After two seasons in and
around the Santiago Bernabeu, Juanan
Gonzalez knows a thing or two about the
spotlight, and yet, he blinks rapidly with a
certain level of discomfort, every time it
shines on a bunch of people – he included –
soaking in applause.
LAST IN LINE
He doesn’t get asked for interviews often,
won’t lead a celebration, and pays a small
price for doing simple things consistently.
But he’s every bit the hero the dressing room
needs and his getting taken for granted as
someone who will always turn up, is the only
medal he needs.
“I may be one of the quieter ones on the
team, but if the team needs a bit of
aggression, I’ll switch in a flash. Anything for
my friends and companions. In football as in
life, there are moments when you need to
hold your peace, and there are moments
when your voice needs to be the loudest.
I’m happy to do what time asks of me,”
says the big man whose demeanour
betrays his frame.
In his third season with the Blues, the
Palma-born defender arrived in Bengaluru
as the missing piece to what was one of the
most successful partnerships at the back in
the club’s blossoming history. Curtis Osano
had left after tormenting strikers along with
John Johnson for three years and Juanan
was supposed to jump in and get behind the
wheel without the luxury of a pit-stop. To
explain how well he’s done that, would be
disservice to the man.
Juanan says he anticipated happiness at
Bengaluru FC even before setting foot in the
country, and it had nothing to do with the
COVER STORY I BLUEPRINT
Everyone remembers that night at the Fortress
against JDT. In what was the Sunil Chhetri show,
it was Juanan who managed to sneak in the goal
that sealed the deal.
figure on his contract or the fact that the
club was playing in the I-League while
fellow-Spaniards in the Indian Super
League were featuring in adverts and on
disturbingly huge hoardings in India. “It felt
very easy to sign with BFC. My agent, like
all good ones, suggested I take my time on
the decision but I was certain about not
holding out for options. Maybe another club
would have come calling with a bigger pay
check. But in my head, it wasn’t broken. So
why fix it?”
Talking about clubs coming calling,
twenty-year-old Juanan was doing enough
and more in a Deportivo shirt for Real
Madrid Castilla to sit up and take notice.
Now the lad is no Arsene Wenger and was
in a Madrid shirt in a flash. But in what
explains his level-headedness, Juanan
never let the glitter get in the way of
practicality. “When I arrived in Real Madrid,
I played there for two years and had the
option of saying yes to a third year. But I
didn’t want to stay there, because when you
play with the B team at a club like Madrid,
the more important players are the
younger ones. I said no, even if it meant me
becoming a free agent, which I did,” he
explains. With no club, but tickets to a
holiday, Juanan went on to soak some sun.
Then a week later he was throwing in
tackles for Fortuna Dusseldorf in Germany.
“Let’s face it, playing for Madrid and
Barcelona unlocks doors elsewhere rather
easily,” he says bluntly.
Though things didn’t work out at Madrid
like he would have wanted them to, Juanan
has nothing but fond memories of his time
there. “The first and the B teams shared a
locker room so I got to meet Sergio Ramos
– who I consider as the most complete
defender – every day after training. He once
watched the B team play and came over to
tell me that I played well but how I need to
position myself better. He always helped
me become a better defender.”
Did being exposed to the biggest names
who had expansive lifestyles change things
for him? “I made it as a professional
footballer because I came with a certain
mentality, and to change that mentality
because of money, glamour and other
privileges ends up changing who you came
as in the first place. Your personality is the
reason you’ve become who you are, never
forget that,” he preaches.
A veteran of sorts at the club, Juanan has
made it his responsibility to show the new
players around, help them with cabs and

hand them a list of restaurants he knows
they will fancy. India is a long way from
Spain and Juanan’s had more trips to and
fro than any other player on the squad to
understand the travails. Back home, he has
his wife, daughter and a son, and he wishes
he could be around them more often. “It’s
tough when you are playing football and
your family is far away from you. When you
win, you wish they were with you to
celebrate and when you lose, you wish they
were around to lift you up. This sacrifice is
for my children and my wife understands
the situation. Whenever I get a few days off,
I go to Spain because I want to see my kids.
I see them on Skype and WhatsApp every
day, but it’s not the same.”
“After the game against Delhi, my daughter
saw me over the video and said ‘Papa, what
happened? Did you lose? Are you crying? Is
it just you or the whole team is crying?’ It’s
amazing how my little ones can cheer me
up. When I call my father, he only needs to
see my face to know if we have lost or won,”
says Juanan.
Juanan has a mole on his sole, which
explains why he hasn’t hesitated at saying
yes to stints in Hungary and America too.
But India seems to have a firm grip on him
JUANAN GONZALEZ
and his habit to wander. “You’ve seen that I
like to keep moving and testing myself, but
with India, I seem to have found a degree of
happiness that I would like to hold on to. At
this club, I have the confidence of the team,
the coach trusts me and the fans always
walked with us. Trust me when I say that in
football, it isn’t easy to always have these
three things consistently going for you. But
I have all three and then there is my family
that is always behind me. I am myself at
this club. Maybe I’ll end up being the
longest-serving foreign player at this club,
you never know!” he says.
The Spaniard has ripped the sleeves of his
training top for comfort and his heavily
tattooed arm with more than just a hint of
I made it as a professional
footballer because I came with
a certain mentality, and to
change that mentality because
of money, glamour and other
privileges ends up changing
who you came as in the first
place. Your personality is the
reason you’ve become who you
are, never forget that.
India, serves as a reminder of how Juanan
has taken to the country. “I have the names
of my family inked one leg and an arm. I
had one arm empty, but I knew that would
change the moment I entered the Shiva
temple in Bengaluru. I saw the huge
statues of Shiva and Ganesha, took a
picture and on my first day of arriving back
in Spain, got it tattooed on me. India has
given me immense happiness and this
tattoo is my way of taking India with me
wherever I go. This country will always be a
part of me and my arm is there to remind
me of the fact.”
 hey Turned Out As
Teammates In South
Korea, Spain And
Cyprus But A Yellow Card In
Delhi Will Keep Albert
Serran From Facing A Friend
From Catalunya At The
Fortress Tonight…
Football fields have often played venue to
reunions. More often than not, players in
opposition shirts have fought battles before
exchanging their colours in fond
reminiscence of times gone by. On
Thursday at the Fortress, there may be no
exchange of shirts. But for Albert Serran
and Ferran Corominas, it is reason to
remember the time they spent together as
teenagers, and then as professional this time with La Liga side Espanyol, where
footballers around the world. the attacker was often training with the
first team. Serran says that though they
“When I was growing up, I was selected to had made the trip to South Korea together,
play for the junior national team of it was at Espanyol that they became
Catalunya. Coro was also a part of that friends.“At the beginning he was just
team and it was the first time I met him.We another teammate, but afterwards, at
were invited to South Korea to inaugurate Espanyol, we were really close friends
the stadiums for the World Cup in 2002. It’s because we were among the few players
funny to remember that because we were who had made it from reserve team to the
both 16 and 17 years old and we had no first team.”
clue what the future had in store for us,”
Serran says. While Corominas found his place in the
Espanyol first team, appearing in over 200
While the Blues’ No. 3 has vivid memories competitive games for the side, football
of his trip, Coro says his memory is limited took Serran to England and then to Cyprus.
to those of grand venues and electric Little did he know that their paths would
atmospheres. “It was almost 17 years ago! meet again, and again, and then once again
All I can remember is that the stadiums in India!
were superb and the atmosphere was
great. But, apart from that, I don’t “When I was in Swansea, we had a
remember much.” pre-season tour to Spain where we played
a friendly game against Espanyol. That was
Coro and Serran would meet once again, the first time we faced each other as

At the beginning he was just
another teammate, but
afterwards, at Espanyol, we
were really close friends
because we were among the
few players who had made it
from reserve team to the
first team.
SERRAN
players. I then moved to Cyprus and in my
fifth year there, when I was at Doxa
Katokopia, he came in to help our attack for
the last seven months of the season,”
Serran recalls.
Corominas, who knew little about the
country or its football, says Cyprus was
made easier because of Serran. “Whenever
there are people that you know and you get
along with, it is easier to be comfortable
and happy. That was the thing with Albert
and myself. There were five Spanish
players at Doxa, and I have a lot of nice
memories from our time. Our families hung
out a lot and even when we went back to
Barcelona, Albert and I always met.”
They may not face off tonight, but Serran
and Corominas, having spent their best
years playing together and against one
another, know a thing or two about their
opposite number. “Away from the pitch,
Serran is a very chilled out guy, but on the
pitch, he is a very aggressive player and
particularly good in the air,” Coro says.
Serran, meanwhile, hopes that Bengaluru
will, in his absence, be mindful of the
Goa-striker’s prowess in front of goal.
“Coro is a very clever player. He has
technique, he has experience and the
toughest job is to mark him. He is the kind
of player you can’t afford to take your eyes
off, because if you miss him for even one
second, he will get behind you.”
When the two met in Goa, earlier this year,
Bengaluru came away with three points but
Serran recalls that there was a warm
embrace and an exchange of shirts after
the full-time whistle.
“As players, Coro and I never speak before
the games when we face each other. We
prefer to speak after because it’s more
professional. We are friends, yes, but we
have come to do a job. In Goa, we chatted a
lot over the phone and calls, but we never
spoke at the stadium. After the game, I
went over to him and we exchanged shirts.
At that moment, it felt like just yesterday
that we were training together, as
teenagers, with hopes of making it big.
Time really does fly.”
GURPREET FERRAN
SINGH COROMINAS

AT THE BACK
After an uncharacteristic performance against Delhi on Sunday,
Gurpreet will be eager to up his game and no better opportunity
than facing off against Corominas, ISL's top-scorer with 13 goals.
The Spaniard has struck a brace five times this season, and has a
knack of making his way past defenders in dangerous areas. But
it won’t be easy for him against Gurpreet either, who is still the
only ’keeper to have made 50 saves this season.

SUNIL SERITON
CHHETRI FERNANDES

ATTACK v DEFENCE
Another promising battle that will unfold on the flanks will be
between Chhetri, who is the ISL’s highest Indian scorer with 8
goals, and Seriton who has been one of Lobera’s most-trusted
men. Like Chhetri, who is an ever-present figure for the Blues,
Seriton too has missed just one game over the last two seasons
and has in fact played every minute in 2018-19, mostly at
right-back. With the skipper getting back amongst the goals, it
will be interesting to see how Seriton adapts his game tonight.