Salt Lake Stadium. Mohun Bagan. Final.
They've been here before this season. Against East Bengal, no less. A third trophy awaits them on Saturday night at home, and it's safe to say the task facing Mumbai City FC couldn't be any stiffer.
Rewind to the end of December, however, and things didn't seem as rosy for Bagan. They'd just lost three Indian Super League (ISL) games in a row, and were heading into the AFC Asian Cup break in somewhat of a crisis. That run of results cost Juan Ferrando his job. So, in came Antonio Lopez Habas - that serial winner of ISL silverware. How does he keep doing it?
"Habas was very clear with his ideas. He made everyone believe that we have a good squad, all we needed to do was to commit ourselves into the game, I think that's how the aggression came and we started to win games," midfielder Anirudh Thapa said.
Thapa had sympathy for Ferrando, saying the injuries to several players in December was a major cause of that dip in form. They had a run of tough games as well - their three straight losses came against Mumbai City, FC Goa and Kerala Blasters, all of whom finished in the top six this season.
The change in system
Habas, though, stuck to Ferrando's 4-2-3-1 system in one game. They drew the Kolkata derby 2-2. He'd seen enough - Bagan needed a drastic change. East Bengal created more chances than Bagan who huffed and puffed until Petratos's late equalizer brought them a point.
The 4-2-3-1 was gone. The 3-2-4-1 was in. He chose to put attacking players out wide, eventually settling on Manvir Singh and Liston Colaco to play on the flanks. Alongside Petratos and one of Armando Sadiku or Jason Cummings, they just had more bodies providing attacking threat.
But perhaps Habas' most significant move came in moving Thapa out of the defensive midfield role. All his career, he'd been operating in a more advanced role, either as a no.8 or a no.10. Thapa was being shackled by Ferrando - and was let loose by Habas.
"I felt I was doing what my coach asked me to do as a no.6, and the same now as a no.10, but this is what I've done throughout my career and I enjoy it," he said.
So while Thapa was doing a job for Ferrando as well, he clearly wasn't enjoying playing in a position that was not allowing him to show off the array of qualities that made him one of India's most sought-after midfielders in the last few years.
"Definitely not [number] 6," he said when asked of his favourite position, "8 or 10, I feel I can do both, but I'll choose 10 because it allows me to get into the box."
What allowed Thapa to play in a more advanced role was the replacement of Hugo Boumous from the ISL squad with Joni Kauko, who had just recovered from a long-term injury.
"The coach brought in Joni, he's a beast on the field," said Dimitri Petratos, who has been immune to the managerial change and continues to be the heart and soul of this Bagan side.
With 22 goals and 14 assists in the ISL since his move to Bagan at the start of the 2022-23 season, Petratos has made a solid case to be called the best player in the league.
"If we have more players who can score and assist like Dimi does, I think we can be unstoppable," Thapa said.
The new system has only made Petratos an even bigger threat. Considering how good he was under Ferrando, it might have been seen as impossible to make him an even bigger threat. Habas has managed to do that. Even while playing as a lone no.9, he loved to drop deep, get on the ball and make a difference. Now he's got way more runners in front of him to pick out a pass for, while still remaining as dangerous a goal threat as he's always been.
Making the Salt Lake a Fortress
Bagan have lost once in seven league games at home under Habas - a shock 3-2 reverse against Chennaiyin FC when they conceded in injury time. However, with the general uptick in results and the kind of football they are playing now, Habas has made opponents fear going to the Salt Lake.
Mumbai City needed only a point to win the league shield on the final day, they wilted under the noise. Odisha FC came into the semifinal second leg with a lead, it seemed like those clad in maroon and green in the stands gave the players the energy to just keep running until Sahal Abdul Samad's 93rd-minute winner.
The crowd is a massive factor, say both Petratos and Thapa. Kolkata can be known to be demanding, they accept nothing less than winning trophies.
As the captain says ��♥️
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- Mohun Bagan Super Giant (@mohunbagansg) April 30, 2024
"I was expecting for example the fans to be a certain way, but it has been way more. I get so much energy from them, and it's not just me, but all the players, so we're all looking forward to the next game," said Petratos.
This may also be attributed to a set of players who have gone that extra mile in making themselves loved by their fanbase. A few years of turmoil under changed ownership and confusion over whose (and what) club it really was meant that Bagan's was a fanbase that needed to be cajoled a bit back into the fold. Gestures like Petratos going to the maidans of Kolkata for a kickabout with a group of kids have only endeared him even more to this half of the city.
"It's natural to me, I love playing football, anywhere and with anyone. It's those kids on the grounds that will eventually come to the big stadium, these are our people we need to be with always" he said.
Their people will be with them on Saturday night. As they always do on these big occasions, they will demand nothing less than the trophy. Mohun Bagan Super Giant are going for a fourth domestic trophy in the space of a year. No side in Indian football has been better placed to do it than this well-drilled Habas machine.