2021 AFC Cup | Expect a reaction from the whole team after disastrous ISL, reveals Sunil Chhetri

Bengaluru FC suffered its worst season in the Indian domestic circuit, having finished at the seventh place in the 2020-21 ISL league standings, with just five wins to their name. That saw the club management take a drastic step by sacking long-standing manager Carles Cuadrat and rope in Marco Pezzaiuoli of Germany.

In fact, the incoming manager’s first assignment as the head coach is going to be the 2021 AFC Cup, the continental event which Bengaluru FC qualified by the virtue of their performance in the 2019-20 ISL. With them set to face Nepal’s Tribhuvan Army FC later this week in the second preliminary match, their captain Sunil Chhetri expects a turnaround from all the players of Bengaluru FC in the upcoming AFC Cup clash.

"I expect a reaction from the whole team. We were so bad and there is no point in pointing fingers at each other. There is so much to improve and this is a good time. Apart from Cleiton (Silva), Suresh (Wangjam), and few young ones, we all were bad. And the worst part was that we all went down at the same time,” said Sunil Chhetri, as reported by TOI.

“Then with the coach getting sacked, it was big turmoil. Heads started dropping, mistakes crept in, chances were missed, started pointing fingers at each other - and it made us weaker. We want to improve and rectify that," added the footballer.