Bengaluru FC’s final home tie in the Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2018-19 campaign will see them welcome an in-form FC Goa team at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Thursday. The Blues have been out-of-sorts in the last few weeks resulting in the Gaurs replacing them at the top of the table. To make matters worse, their Australian midfielder Erik Paartalu has been ruled out for the remainder out the season.

Speaking at the pre-match press conference, the Spaniard hinted that he might once again look to rotate his squad given that the Blues are already through to the knock-out stages. “Yes, I’m not going to say it now because I want Sergio Lobera to think a little bit about what’s going to happen tomorrow. We are very happy to be in the playoffs again. So, let’s see what happens in the last two games,” he said.

Cuadrat continued by revealing his approach for the Blues’ final two league matches. “Yes, I think we can learn a lot from the last two games. If you see, normally we are a mentally strong team. Last time when we were leading the game, we lost it. It was in the final against Chennai. So, maybe it helps us to learn something. We have been really tough as a team in the last three games,” he said.

Bengaluru’s form going into the playoffs would be a matter of concern for their fans. Cuadrat’s men have lost two consecutive matches and are winless this month. Sharing his view on it, the Blues boss said, “We are football professionals. We have been working for a long time. If you see in the last games, we have not been starting with some players like Sunil Chhetri and Dimas Delgado. We understand that things happen when you change things. I want to be positive.”

Prioritising the playoffs over finishing at the top of the table, the 50-year-old said, “You want to be champions. That’s the target. We have Sunil Chhetri. He has been a champion in the regular season, two years ago with Mumbai, and last season with Bengaluru. But in his CV, there is nothing about being a champion in the Hero ISL. So, we have to be smart.”

Miku’s form since returning form injury has been far from ideal. Cuadrat concluded by recognising the fact. “He’s doing a kind of pre-season. He’s trying to be fit again. You can tell from his numbers and performance that he is not still at the level that he was before the injury. But we still have time. We have two weeks before the first semifinal. So, we hope that he can reach that level in 15 days,” he said.

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