The reigning I-League champions are hoping to take the first step towards the group stage of the Champions League at the Salt Lake Stadium on Wednesday, when they entertain their Singaporean opponents.
In five of the past seven years, India have had representatives enter the tournament at the qualifying stage only to fall at the first hurdle.
More recently, Pune and Bengaluru both had their hopes ended against Vietnam’s Ha Noi T&T and Malaysia’s Johor Darul Ta’zim respectively, and Mohun Bagan coach Sanjoy Sen is determined his charges do not suffer a similar fate against another Southeast Asian side.
“Yes, Pune and Bengaluru had previously lost in the ACL [qualifiers] so this could be a milestone,” he said at Tuesday’s pre-match press conference.
“I was initially focusing on the I-League but now, my target is to win all the tournaments we take part in. At the end of the day, we have to look back and see how much we have given on the field.
“When we started the season, I told my boys that this is a challenge to play in the ACL since this is the first time we are playing in it, so we need to uphold the name of our club.
“As a coach, I also want to do well since this is my first continental tournament.”
While he admitted to being unfamiliar with the opposition, Sen will have no qualms with how they get the job done as long as they emerge victorious, even if it requires extra-time or penalties.
“We are prepared but we don’t know much about our opponents,” added the 55-year-old.
“[Having played a game on Saturday against East Bengal] is no excuse – I am ready to take it to the tie-breaker if necessary, although obviously we would like to win it in the 90 minutes because our next I-League game on the 30th is also important for us.”
Meanwhile, Tampines coach V. Sundramoorthy revealed that he was aware of the threat Mohun Bagan would pose, but insists his side have their own ambitions of going far in the Champions League.
“I have seen the last three games of Mohun Bagan in the I-League and I have been very impressed by them,” explained the former Singapore international.
“They are a good attacking side with good strikers, so it will be a good game. Definitely, we are the underdogs and they are the favourites.
“Playing away from home is tough but we are prepared and we hope we can play a good game against Mohun Bagan.
“You can see our ambition. We signed [ex-Arsenal and Liverpool winger] Jermaine Pennant so we want to do well in the AFC Champions League.
“If we put in a good performance and have a bit of luck, we can make our way through.”
The winner of Wednesday’s tie will advance to the second preliminary round of qualifiers and face off against Chinese Super League outfit Shandong Luneng Taishan on February 2.
**The Teams:**
MOHUN BAGAN (India)
Having been founded in 1889, Mohun Bagan is India’s oldest football club but remarkably, since the I-League’s inception in 2007, it took them until last season to be crowned champions for the first time. Apart from the prize of their maiden title, the Mariners will also get the chance to play in the AFC Champions League for the first time, albeit entering at the first qualifying round. They do however have previous continental experience having played in the AFC Cup in 2007 and 2009, although they failed to advance out of the group stage on both occasions.
TAMPINES ROVERS (Singapore)
Tampines Rovers may have gone the past two years without silverware, but they will still be one of Singapore’s representatives in AFC competition in 2016 as runners-up of the S.League, since champions DPMM FC of Brunei are ineligible to represent the country. Despite their recent lack of trophies, the Stags remain one of Singapore’s most-successful clubs and are also no strangers to the Asian stage with seven previous AFC Cup appearances to their names. However, they will now be looking to follow in the footsteps of Warriors FC, who became the first Singaporean side to qualify for the AFC Champions League group stage in 2009 and 2010.