Jose Molina, left, and Sanjiv Goenka, owner of Mohun Bagan Super Giant, present the team jersey to Jamie Maclaren during an interaction with media on July 30.
| Photo Credit: PTI

It is important to be consistent and produce the best in every match the team plays, said Jose Molina as he officially took charge of the Indian Super League shield winner Mohun Bagan Super Giant here on Tuesday.

“We have to win all the matches. It doesn’t matter whether it is Durand Cup, ISL, or the AFC tournaments where we will participate. We have to produce our best in every match and it should be the target for all the players and the team management to treat every match as the most important fixture in the calendar,” Molina said on returning to the city after a break of eight seasons. He had made the now-defunct ATK the ISL champion in 2016 during his last assignment in the city.

Molina, who went on to serve as the sporting director of the Royal Spanish Football federation for four years, said that he hopes to see Mohun Bagan SG maintain its status on top of the country’s football hierarchy.

Molina is likely to start his new assignment when Mohun Bagan takes on Indian Air Force in its next Durand Cup outing on August 8.

Lt. General RC Srikanth, VSM, Chief of Staff, HQ Eastern Command, Chairman Durand Cup Organising Committee, Aroop Biswas, West Bengal Minister of Youth Services & Sports, and other officials unveiled the trophy of 133rd Edition of Durand Cup 2024 during the press conference in Kolkata.
| Photo Credit: DEBASISH BHADURI

Defending champion Mohun Bagan Super Giant will lead the challenge as 24 teams brace themselves to win the 133rd edition of Durand Cup, the first competition of Indian football’s new season.

Mohun Bagan SG, which is also the holder of the Indian Super League shield title, will be facing the Srinagar-based club Downtown Heroes FC, which plays in I-League Division 2, in the opening group A league match at the Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday.

The competition format has 24 teams divided into six groups of four teams each. The groups include teams from the ISL, I-League, and the Services teams of India, Nepal, and Bangladesh.

Kolkata will host the matches of Groups A, B, and C, while Jamshedpur will host Group D matches. Kokrajhar and Shillong will host the Group E and F league matches respectively.

The 36-match group league stage will conclude with the Kolkata derby featuring two of the Mohun Bagan SG and East Bengal FC — oldest teams in the continent — on August 18. 

All six group toppers and two best second-placed teams will progress to the quarterfinals (knock-out stage). The quarterfinals are slated to start on August 21 and will be held in Jamshedpur, Kokrajhar apart from Kolkata, which will have two matches. Kolkata will host both the semifinals and the final, which will be held on August 31.

The Groups

Group A (Kolkata): Mohun Bagan SG, East Bengal FC, Indian Air Force, Downtown Heroes FC.

Group B (Kolkata): Bengaluru FC, Inter Kashi FC, Indian Navy, Mohammedan SC.

Group C (Kolkata): Kerala Blasters FC, Mumbai City FC, Punjab FC, CISF Protectors.

Group D (Jamshedpur): Jamshedpur FC, Chennaiyin FC, Indian Army, Bangladesh Army.

Group E (Kokrajhar): Odisha FC, NorthEast United FC, Bodoland FC, BSF FT.

Group F (Shillong): FC Goa, Hyderabad FC, Shillong Lajong FC, Tribhuvan Army FC (Nepal).