Brimming with confidence after an eight-day rest, Atlético de Kolkata marquee player Luis García sounded extremely positive about his side’s chances ahead of tomorrow’s away game against Chennaiyin FC.Speaking at a press conference on the eve of the match, the former Liverpool star said, “We hope to win tomorrow, everybody saw Chennai play and they have a good team and good players all across the pitch. It’s a very difficult game for us, especially since we are away, but we hope to win.”Asked what is so special about the rival team, García replied that the whole team is good and the foreign contingent comprises of top players who’ve played in the top leagues. He added that he had no special plans for Elano Blumer, the leading scorer in the tournament so far. “Elano has very good free kicks. Everybody watched the game and we know how he plays, he is a famous player,” he quipped.Tomorrow’s clash will see García come up against former Manchester United defender Mikaël Silvestre, reigniting their rivalry from the old Premier League days. But García clarified that the past rivalry would have no bearing on this clash. “It is always nice to come up against a player that you have to played against in the past. But five years ago if had you asked us whether we’ll play against each other here, we would have said no,” García mused.García said the eight-day break has done good for his side as they have returned refreshed. “For us, it is important to have the rest. Very important, considering we had to play every three days; now it is good for the players as they have a bit more of capacity,” he stated.García expressed his disappointment at not being able to practice on the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium pitch because of the adverse weather conditions. “Not practising before the game is a huge disadvantage, as we don’t know how the pitch is going to be. We hear that the pitch is very hard. It is not easy, but we have to play, we can do nothing about it” he said.García acknowledged it would be difficult not having (suspended) head coach Antonio Habas in the dugout, but added that his two very able assistants would be around. “We have to focus on the game when we are on the pitch and give our best,” he declared.The Spaniard is aware of the huge following for the Premier League here and is happy to see Liverpool supporters everywhere. “I hear there is a big Red family in Chennai and I will be happy to meet them,” he said.García also said that the Hero Indian Super League is still in its early days and despite his team being on the top of the table, nothing can be taken for granted. “Anything can change in three to four games, as we’ve seen,” he concluded.
