East Bengal vs Mohun Bagan, Super Cup: Bagan coach Molina rues lack of clarity with Indian football ahead of Kolkata derby

There was a tone of hopelessness in the words of Jose Molina, the coach of Mohun Bagan Super Giant, before the Kolkata derby against East Bengal in the Super Cup on Friday.

It wasn’t for his team; he was confident that Bagan would beat its arch-rival. Instead, it was due to the lack of certainty about the men’s top-flight in the country and the poor turnout during Super Cup matches.

“We are going to fight for them, trying to make them happy. It’s better if we can have them in the stadium, because they are really supportive and push us to fight even more,” Molina said before the derby.

Bagan has played two matches at the Panit Jawaharlal Nehru in Goa, the venue for the derby, so far, but the total turnout has been barely in four figures.

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The Super Cup is the first competition of the 2025-26 Indian football season. By this time last year, seven rounds of the Indian Super League (ISL) were done.

“This season has not been easy for anybody because of no league and no matches. When you cannot play matches, it’s very difficult to get your best. With only training sessions, you can be close to your best, but you are not going to achieve your best.”

To make matters worse, Indian clubs are left clueless about what to expect after the tournament. There is no certainty of ISL this season, with the league’s commercial partners yet to be decided by the All India Football Federation.

“I don’t know,” Molina said, shaking his head, “What we want is to qualify for the semifinals. It’s always difficult to play against East Bengal because they fight and they have good players. But we feel that we can do it.”

Published on Oct 30, 2025