Image credit: BengaluruFC@Twitter

2018-19 Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) champions Bengaluru FC have announced a 29-member squad for their AFC Cup play-off tie against Club Eagles on August 15.

The winners of the match will join 2020-21 Hero ISL finalists ATK Mohun Bagan, Bangladesh’s Bashundhara Kings and the Maldives’ Maziya Sports & Recreation in Group D (South Zone) which will kick off three days later on August 18. The play-off tie as well as the group matches will be played in the Maldives.

The Blues had a great season in the AFC Cup in 2016 when they reached the final, however, last year they came a cropper against Maziya Sports & Recreation in their play-off tie.

After finishing seventh in the 2020-21 Hero ISL -- their worst performance since joining the league ahead of the 2017-18 season -- Bengaluru FC rang a lot of changes. Apart from bringing in head coach Marco Pezzaiuoli – who, in his first game at the helm, oversaw a 5-0 demolition of Nepal’s Tribhuvan Army FC in their AFC Cup Preliminary Round 2 clash in April earlier this year -- they also brought on board several new players.

Alan Costa, Rohit Kumar, Jayesh Rane, Yrondu Musavu-King, Danish Farooq, Harmanpreet Singh, Sarthak Golui, Prince Ibara and Bidyashagar Singh are the new faces so far. Among these new players, only Ibara is not part of their play-off squad.

Here is the squad in full:

Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Lalthuammawia Ralte, Sharon Padattil, Lara Sharma

Defenders: Pratik Chaudhari, Wungngayam Muirang, Ajith Kumar, Ashique Kuruniyan, Parag Srivas, Yrondu Musavu-King, Alan Costa, Sarthak Golui, Biswa Darjee

Midfielders: Suresh Wangjam, Jayesh Rane, Danish Farooq, Rohit Kumar, Muhammad Inayath, Namgyal Bhutia, Ajay Chhetri

Forwards: Sunil Chhetri, Udanta Singh, Cleiton Silva, Roshan Singh Naorem, Siva Sakthi, Akashdeep Singh, Bidyashagar Singh, Leon Augustine, Harmanpreet Singh