Bengaluru FC must overcome Chennaiyin FC in the grand finale of Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2017-18 to be crowned champions at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday. The Blues were the best team in the league phase after topping the standings with an eight-point advantage over second-placed Chennai. Bengaluru also dispatched FC Pune City convincingly in the semi-finals to progress to the final with a 3 – 1 aggregate win. Their shot-stopper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu has been a solid presence in front of goal, making crucial saves in almost every game. The 26-year-old, who has seven clean sheets in 18 games, spoke to indiansuperleague.com prior to the final. Here are the excerpts.

Your thoughts on your run with Bengaluru FC?

It feels incredible and this is what I expected from a team like Bengaluru FC. We have been trying to push ourselves and trying to achieve the ultimate goal, which is to get into the final and have a shot at winning the league. 

How does it feel playing against Chennaiyin FC in the final?

I think it is going to be an incredibly heavy and hard task for us. For sure it is not going to be easy. But we’re going to make it difficult for them to play against us.

Does the South Indian rivalry add to the pressure?

No. I don’t think it adds the pressure. I think it makes it more exciting to play. I mean you want to play games like this, where you have the full stadium and you have the fans behind you. Even the other teams have their fans behind them. So it makes it more exciting according to me. 

Does playing at home in the final add to the buzz?

I think for sure. I mean it’s our home ground at the end of the day and we’ll try to do our best at our home ground. We will make sure that we try to get a result for us.