Flashback 2017: Bengaluru FC switch leagues, stay dominant in Asia

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Bengaluru, December 25: Four in four.

No other new club in the country has managed what Bengaluru FC has - four national titles in their four years of existence. That's one reason why Bengaluru FC remains a role model institution for other clubs: their professionalism and efficiency is unparalleled.

"But that was only against the I-League clubs."

Now, there's no room for such talk. BFC, after showing their mettle in the country's premier league, switched to the more glamourous Indian Super League this year. Here, they continued to progress and develop as a team.

"(Our target is) just to be better," Bengaluru FC's Spaniard coach Albert Roca had said at the start of the season. "And also to see that my team achieves a certain level of football. The only way we can top that is by winning the I-League again and going one better in Asia."

Bengaluru FC's titles:

I-League in 2014

Federation Cup in 2015

I-League in 2016

Federation Cup in 2017

BFC were unable to achieve success in the I-League in the first season that Roca was in-charge of the club. They finished fourth at the end of the league in April this year. What started off as a good home start for them, winning three consecutive games, turned into a nightmare when they began their travels. A 2-1 blip against East Bengal in late January saw them miss out on points throughout February. They were denied a goal away at Aizawl FC in a 1-1 draw, and returned home to lose 1-3 to East Bengal again, with their former striker Robin Singh scoring a brace.

BFC recovered from that phase only in April by which time the title race was over for them. They recorded their biggest win ever, a 7-0 victory over DSK Shivajians in their penultimate I-League game on April 22. A week later, they saw Aizawl FC draw 1-1 with Shillong Lajong and grab the I-League crown from them.

Six matches against Bagan

In the Federation Cup in Cuttack, played among the top eight finishers in the I-League, Bengaluru FC showed promise. They finished in the four-team group that also had Mohun Bagan, Shillong Lajong and DSK Shivajians. Shivajians avenged their 0-7 defeat to stun BFC 2-0 in a group clash, but BFC squeezed through after drawing 1-1 with Bagan.

In the semi-final against Aizawl FC, midfielder Cameron Watson, now with Bagan, converted from the spot and Amrinder Singh, now with Mumbai City FC, later saved a spot-kick to help BFC set up a summit clash with Bagan, who ousted East Bengal.

In the Federation Cup final, played on May 21 after BFC's AFC Cup fixture against Bagan on May 17, BFC were without skipper Sunil Chhetri and winger Udanta Singh, who had suffered injuries after playing a match every two days during peak summer in Odisha. BFC had signed Cornell Glen on loan from Ozone FC Bengaluru for the tournament, but the Trinidad and Tobago striker did not impress.

CK Vineeth, who had remarked "I am not Sunil Chhetri to score with every opportunity I get, I am CK Vineeth," stunned all by scoring a brace in extra time to hand Bengaluru FC the Federation Cup.

"I kept telling myself in the build-up to the final that I'm not letting Bagan take this away from us," goalkeeper Amrinder Singh remarked after the win. "We had battled hard to get to the final and I was willing to do everything it takes to bring the cup back to Bangalore."

Bagan overload: They played Bagan five times in the season - twice in the I-League, twice in Federation Cup and twice in the AFC Cup! They played thrice in succession between March 11 and April 1.

From finalists to semi-finalists

Bengaluru FC fought their way through the AFC Cup group and knockout stages as well. After finishing runners-up to Air Force Club of Iraq in 2016, BFC were placed in an easy South Asian Group E with Mohun Bagan, Maziya S&RC and Abahani Dhaka.

However, their place in the knockouts was only sealed after an elegant free-kick goal by Chhetri in a must-win game against Maziya at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium. Tied on 12 points with Maziya after the group stage, they managed to scrape through as they held a better head-to-head record against the Maldivian side.

The AFC Cup Inter-Zonal semi-final was an experience that none of the BFC players will ever forget. They played that two-legged fixture against North Korea's 4.25 SC. After winning 3-0 on a rainy evening in Bengaluru, courtesy goals by Chhetri, Udanta and Lenny Rodrigues, BFC drew goalless in Pyongyang to set up an inter-zonal final (technically semi-final) with FC Istiklol of Tajikistan.

Their fixture against Istiklol was a painful one. BFC lost 0-1 in Dushanbe, courtesy a goal by Dmitri Barkov. At home, a dubious penalty decision made them suffer early in the game. Davronov Nuriddin converted from the spot for Istiklol but Rahul Bheke equalised with a header.

BFC then were reduced to 10 men after Harmanjot Khabra picked up a second yellow in the game. Barkov struck in the second half and although BFC equalised again through Chhetri, they lost 2-3 on aggregate. Istiklol went on to lose the AFC Cup final against Air Force Club.

Chhetri finished the topscorer for BFC with 12 strikes. Udanta Singh was another impressive performer and was voted the Player of the Season by fans.

New-look BFC

Familiar faces then left the squad as BFC joined the ISL. With a new-look squad, BFC have won four games and lost three in the ISL.

December saw BFC's 13-game unbeaten streak at home end after a 1-2 defeat to Chennaiyin FC. Another last-gasp goal condemned them to a second defeat at home to Jamshedpur FC.

Their fixture against FC Goa, however, was one of the most entertaining games of the season.

Down 10 men after goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu was sent off for a swipe on FC Goa's Manuel Lanzarote at a stage when BFC were down 1-2 in Fatorda. Despite that, BFC equalised twice through Miku and Erik Paartalu. However, Ferran Corominas had the final say that night with three goals for Goa.

What's in store?

Despite impressing in the I-League and AFC Cup, Bengaluru FC are yet to prove their might in the ISL. They were in a strong position until recently, but have time to recover.

After back-to-back defeats, they face a tough task on New Year's Eve against Kerala Blasters in Kochi. But if they take it one match at a time, they can return to their best. They will also kick off their AFC Cup campaign against Transport United of Bhutan in January.

"We have a 10-day break (before the match against Blasters)," Roca said. "Sometimes we are not so good in our football, but that doesn't mean we're bad. We have to take the feedback from the two defeats and be clever and work hard for the next game. We're a bit down now, but tomorrow is another day. We will go to Kerala and look forward to getting the three points there. We are not so down in the standings that we cannot recover and make the top-four. It feels like a punishment when you lose games in dying minutes, but it's for us to learn. We should move on and do things better."