Atlético de Kolkata head coach Antonio Lopez Habas is cautious ahead of the first leg of their Hero Indian Super League Season 2 semi-final against Chennaiyin FC in Pune on Saturday. The defending champions beat Chennai in their home (3-2) and away games (2-1) earlier this season but Habas said they will have to be wary of Marco Materazzi’s men on Saturday. “Very difficult game for me and us. The ATK-Chennai game are always difficult, strong and competitive for us. We have to play with intelligence. That is the most important thing,” Habas told reporters on Friday.“In football, in the semi-finals, it is impossible to choose a favourite. That’s the thing about professional football, you cannot choose a favourite. We may have two difficult games, we may not win this away game, we may lose. So we will focus on intelligent play.”“It is 50% for us and 50% for Chennai. It’s football. It’s not an advantage for us. It’s 90 mins of football.”When asked if he was under pressure as most were putting their money on ATK to win the match, Habas said: “No, I feel no pressure. Absolutely not. I understand football and I know that you have to work every day with discipline and the right attitude and that is what we have done. I feel no pressure.”Habas also played down a suggestion that the smaller field at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex Stadium in Pune could prove to be a problem for his side. “For me it is not any different playing in Pune or Chennai…The only thing missing is the home support. Everything else is the same,” Habas said.Habas praised Iain Hume who has scored 10 goals this season for ATK but also said that the match, which was moved to Pune after devastating floods in Chennai, wasn’t only about Hume and Chennai’s Stiven Mendoza, the league’s top-scorer so far with 11 goals. “It is possible to play all game [for Hume] because he is a good footballer and a good professional. Borja [Fernandez] is the same, Arata [Izumi] is the same. Each player plays to his strength.“I don’t want to choose one player. I feel this is ATK vs Chennai, not just Mendoza vs Hume.”
