Curtains were drawn to an enthralling season of the Hero Indian Super League 2021-22 with new winners on the podium, making the tournament a one to recall in the future. Jamshedpur FC, by virtue of finishing at the top of the league table, furthered their chances of qualifying for the 2023-24 AFC Champions League. On the other hand, Hyderabad FC stepped forward in the race for an AFC Cup qualification.

For the time being, we have two clubs - Mumbai City FC and ATK Mohun Bagan set to feature in the 2022 AFC Champions League and the AFC Cup. The Islanders claimed a double in the previous season, winning the League Winners’ Shield and the ISL trophy, thus automatically qualifying for the Asian meet, while the Mariners were drafted into the AFC Cup having finished second in the regular season.

Mumbai City FC failed to qualify for the semi-final in the recently concluded Hero ISL, but now have some serious action-packed calendar down the road. Already in Abu Dhabi for the preparatory camp ahead of the meet, the Indian club has been pitted alongside Al-Jazira (UAE), Al-Shabab (Saudi Arabia) and Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya (Iraq) in Group B of the main event. Des Buckingham’s boys begin their campaign on April 8 against Al-Shabab. All the matches are set to be staged in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Here are the fixtures for Mumbai City FC in the group stages of the 2022 AFC Champions League:

Meanwhile, ATK Mohun Bagan’s opponent for the Preliminary round 2 match is yet to be decided. However, the match will be played on April 12, at the Salt Lake Stadium, in Kolkata.

Hero Indian Super League clubs have not tasted much success in the continental level, with ATK Mohun Bagan’s inter-zone semi-final appearance being the best ever outing. But, with the intensity shown by the clubs in the Hero ISL 2021-22, we can expect better results.