ATK FC suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat against Bengaluru FC in the first leg of their semi-final clash at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday. The two-time champions are still in with a chance to progress to the final, provided they manage to overturn the result in the second leg in Kolkata next week.

After the match, ATK head coach Antonio Lopez Habas, at the post-match press conference, shared his thoughts on the contest and said, “Losing the match was bad luck. I am very happy with the performance of the team. I think ATK were the better than Bengaluru on the night. But we lost. This is football. The score isn’t the benchmark for me, I judge my team by their performance.”

“I think, ATK were the superior team and the scoreline doesn’t quite reflect that. We were better on the ball and did everything better. But we still have the second leg in Kolkata and it will be a very difficult match for both teams,” he added.

Asked if the Blues taking a defence-first approach for most of the game in their home tie somewhat took him by surprise, Habas opined, “In football, coaches have to take decisions to keep their team in the match. I am a coach myself, and I understand that.”

Looking ahead to the second leg, the Spaniard stated, “My players showed great attitude and discipline. I am happy. Now we have to focus to overturn the result in the second leg. I think it’s possible after these 90 minutes. We have to try and stop them from scoring in Kolkata and score ourselves.”

Read the Match Report here.