New Delhi: The country's top two football clubs East Bengal and Salgaocar face each other in yet another battle for supremacy in the one-off Super Cup match here on Tuesday.
Salgaocar and East Bengal are the two best sides this year with the former winning the I-League and Federation Cup while the latter finishing runners-up both times and it's apt that they are featuring in the one-off winner-takes-all match at Ambedkar Stadium.
The Rs 10 lakh prize money Super Cup is played between the I-League and Federation Cup winners but this year since Salgaocar won both the tournaments, they will have to play against the I-League runners-up side East Bengal.
The Super Cup is also the perfect dress rehearsal for the kick-off of the I-League slated for October 22 in Kolkata.
Salgaocar seem to enjoy an edge but they suffered reverse just after winning the Federation Cup by failing to advance beyond the group stage in the Durand Cup here last week.
"It's true we defeated them in I-League and Federation Cup and the level of competition is very high between us. But there's no place for complacency and we are not taking anything for granted as they are a very strong team," Salgaocar coach Karim Bencherifa said.
East Bengal's strike force, which comprise of Tolgay Ozby and Allan Gow, could be a menace for most teams but Bencherifa feels it best to concentrate on his team's strength.
"It's our principle that we focus on our strength rather than focusing on the strength of our rival team. We need to find out our weak links and plug the holes. Luckily, we don't have any injury woes confronting us," he said.
East Bengal, on the other hand, would look for revenge of their 1-3 loss to Salgaocar in the Federation Cup final and regain the momentum ahead of the I-League.
The Trevor Morgan-coached red-and-gold brigade were a bit jittery for the tie, after all they have travelled a lot in the last few days.
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