Bengaluru FC travel to face Kerala Blasters FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on Saturday. The Blues confirmed a spot in the semi-finals of the Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2019-20 after FC Goa’s win over Mumbai City FC on Wednesday. Their next target will be to give stiff competition to ATK FC and Goa to grab the top spot in the league standings.

At the pre-match press conference, Bengaluru head coach Carles Cuadrat confirmed those intentions and said, “Every game is important. The good news is that we are already in the semi-finals. It was one of the targets we had for the season. The other target was to play the AFC Champions League and AFC Cup next season. We will try to get the points to get closer to that. It is not in our hands but we will try to work.”

Coming to the Kerala match, the Spaniard is expecting a great occasion and a packed crowd. He stated, “We know how good supporters they have. They are great. Last season, it was a very, very nice show. They were helping the team all the time. I think it gives them something extra. When you play against the champions of the league, like we are right now, it will be a great motivation for them to finish the season with a nice game at home and secure a victory against us.”

“Kerala have had injuries. So, it is a pity. But we also have had injuries. We have been losing very important players since last season. We have to keep working and get results. I am expecting a great game like in Chennai. There was a lot of passion. There were a lot of things happening in the stands. It is great for football. I am sure it will be a very exciting game,” Cuadrat added.

Lastly, the Blues head coach stressed the importance of respecting each team. He said, “I think in football, we all have to think very well about the message we are giving. We have to have respect for all clubs. All clubs have a lot of passion behind them. It needs to be respected. We all know how difficult it is in football to be persistent in competition. We can see that at any level. To be in the finals, to be fighting for titles, it is something that needs to be respected.”

Meanwhile, young goalkeeper, Prabhsukhan Singh Gill, who was also in attendance at the media briefing, shared his delight after having started in goal for the Blues in their 9-1 win over Paro FC on Wednesday. He said, “It felt nice to play. The head coach had called me a day earlier and said that I had his entire confidence. He told me to enjoy my game. My fellow teammates also gave me confidence. We performed very well against Paro. We were professional and were good individually. We kept pushing the entire 90 minutes.”

Read the Match Preview here.