FC Goa take on Mumbai City FC in the second leg of Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2020-21’s Semi-final 1 at the GMC Stadium in Bambolim on Monday. In the first leg played on Friday, the Gaurs were held to a 2-2 draw by the Islanders. At the pre-match press conference, FC Goa’s head coach Juan Ferrando admitted that he was disappointed with their opening leg result but believes that his players are ready for the upcoming challenge.

“We are not happy because we wanted to win. But now the second leg is the same as all the other games. The most important thing is that the players are 100% ready and happy. It is a great opportunity for us to continue to improve and continue working. I hope we will be in the final. At the end it is between two teams, Mumbai City FC and FC Goa. The mentality is more or less the same. Both teams want to win,” the Spanish head coach said.

Seriton Fernandes and Princeton Rebello were subbed off in the last match after suffering injuries and Ferrando addressed how he plans on coping with their absence in the second leg. “There have been a lot of injury problems with players but it's normal. We have to take these decisions. It depends on the intensity of the game and maybe two or three actions as well. We are preparing the team and trying to prepare a good plan for them. Most important for me is the recovery of the players,” he said. 

However, Ivan Gonzalez and Alberto Noguera will be available for selection after serving suspensions and Ferrando was happy to have more players to choose from. “All the players are very important for me. Of course, if the players are ready, then I can prepare plan A, B or C. It is good when you have all the players ready. This is the most important,” he said.

“At the end, it's not possible to tell you that I have Ivan, Igor (Angulo) or Noguera then we will win. For me, it's very important that all the players are ready because in this case, I can prepare different plans,” the 40-year-old said.

Ferrando was joined at the press conference by FC Goa skipper Edu Bedia, who believes that his side will have to play good football against one of the best teams in the league. “We have to play good football. The pressure is obviously on them because everybody considers them to be the best in the league right now. So, we just have to keep going and do what we want to do and then we will see how the result shapes up,” he said.

“Mumbai City FC came into the first leg as the league stage champions. We got into the semi-finals on the last day as well. So, the expectation was that Mumbai City FC would be far superior to us. But as the game went on, we were quite dominant in the game. They felt that we were dominant as well,” the Spanish midfielder added.