File photo of East Bengal players.© X (formerly Twitter)
Indian Super League club East Bengal has been drawn in Group A of the AFC Challenge League alongside Nejmeh SC (Lebanon), Bashundhara Kings (Bangladesh) and Paro FC (Bhutan). The Group A encounters will happen at the Changlimithang Stadium in Thimphu. The Red and Gold Brigade made it to the competition thanks to its title conquest at the Kalinga Super Cup this year. Earlier this month, East Bengal played the qualifying matches for the AFC Champions League Two, suffering a 0-2 defeat against Altyn Asyr FC (Turkmenistan), relegating it to the AFC Challenge League.
As for EBFC’s opponents, Nejmeh SC is the Lebanese Premier League champion. Notably, the former faced the latter in the AFC Cup group stage in 2010, losing both legs 0-3 and 0-4.
Bashundhara Kings and Paro FC are the Bangladesh Premier League and Bhutan Premier League champions, respectively.
A total of five groups will be seen in the tournament. There will be three groups of four teams each in the West Region, whereas the East Region will have two groups with three sides each.
Eight teams will progress from the group stage – the three group winners, along with the best-ranked runner-up from the West and the top two finishers from the two groups in the East.
The double-legged quarter-finals will happen between March 5-13, followed by the semi-finals from April 9-17 whereas the final takes place on May 10.
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