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Bengaluru FC became the first team to the secure their entry into the Indian Super League (ISL) playoffs last week.
Given their dominance in the first phase of the ISL, it was more or less guaranteed that Bengaluru, coached by Carles Cuadrat, would be involved in the semifinals again.
The ISL 2017-18 runners-up have impressed in all departments of the game this season. Their attack, especially, has shown resilience and Bengaluru are no strangers to scoring last-minute goals and staging second-half comebacks.
Bengaluru would have ideally wanted to qualify on their terms instead of relying on other results.
But they suffered a minor blip in the second phase of the ISL after losing to bottom-half teams Chennaiyin FC and Delhi Dynamos in succession. But they pulled themselves out of misery with a dominating performance over FC Goa.
The Blues' spot in the last-4 was, however, confirmed even before that 3-0 win when Jamshedpur FC lost 4-1 to FC Pune City.
What's worked for Bengaluru this season which saw them conquer most of the opponents in the 10-team tournament to romp into the semis? We look at 5 things that they executed well this season.
Also see : Fantasy Premier League , Fantasy Premier League Tips, Intercontinental Cup
#1. Bengaluru FC recruitment
The conclusion of the 2017-18 season rang in drastic changes for Bengaluru FC. The biggest of them was, of course, the departure of their coach Albert Roca, who delivered a Federation Cup and Super Cup during his time with the club, apart from seeing them into the AFC Cup final.
Apart from the coach, players like John Johnson, Daniel Segovia, Toni Dovale, Victor Perez, Braulio Nobrega and Edu Garcia departed from the club.
Indian players who left included Subhasish Bose, Joyner Lourenco, Collin Abranches and Abhra Mondal.
Among these, the exits of Johnson, Garcia, Dovale and Bose, in particular, were a huge blow for BFC.
The four (Dovale after Garcia's transfer) were part of the core Bengaluru team left behind by Roca. When new coach Carles Cuadrat, Roca's assistant, was roped in, Bengaluru had to address the void immediately as they had an AFC Cup inter-zonal semifinal clash first up against Altyn Asyr of Tajikistan.
They took their time but roped in the right people. The retention of defensive midfielder Erik Paartalu, playmaker Dimas Delgado, striker Miku and defender Juanan Gonzalez probably helped.
And through the transfer window, players like Xisco Fernandez, Albert Serran and Chencho Gyeltshen joined the ranks and played vital roles in Bengaluru's march to the playoffs.
The Bhutanese Ronaldo Gyeltshen was offloaded in the winter transfer window to NEROCA FC and in came Luisma Villa.
The recruitments have been spot on and mainly addressed the concerns of the coach. Whether it was the signing of Serran for Johnson or Rino Anto as a full-back with Nishu Kumar filling in the shoes of Bose, Bengaluru built their team around the needs of the coach and not the other way around.
The recruitment policy is mostly based on the position and it doesn't matter if the incoming player was an Indian or a foreigner as is seen from Kean Lewis' signing as a winger.
With Paartalu ruled out for the rest of the season due to a knee injury, Bengaluru are currently looking to fill that hole before the start of the ISL playoffs.
Given their activity in the transfer market, it's sure to be a need-based signing rather than a big-name spend.
#2. Bengaluru FC's engagement with fans
Keep the fans happy and they will repay you with love.
This season, 'customers' of the Manjappada, Kerala Blasters' fan group, were unhappy with the poor performance of the club. While they boycotted a couple of their home games, the numbers of the Super Machans, Chennaiyin FC's fans, also dwindled.
Fan support, however, was no problem for BFC.
Bengaluru have gone beyond the norm to engage with their fans and that shows in their home matches, which has mostly seen packed stands in the West Block A of the Sree Kanteerava Stadium.
Since the very beginning, Bengaluru have shared a deep connection with their audience, the urban cosmopolitan crowd of the city.
This season, they outdid themselves and focused a lot paying tribute to the rich history of football in Bengaluru.
For the first time, Bengaluru brought together the teams of HAL and ITI for an exhibition match in which a bunch of their own like Rahul Bheke, Erik Paartalu, Chencho Gyeltshen, Harmanjot Khabra, Juanan Gonzalez and Gursimrat Singh Gill made 10-minute cameos. That apart, the club also paid tribute to a hero, Pushparaj Kumar, who was part of India's 1978 Asian Games squad.
The atmosphere in Bengaluru's home matches has been nothing short of electric. The West Block Blues, Bengaluru's fan army, ensured there were no untoward incidents in the stands this year and were also respectful in their chants, focusing on encouraging their players after the ISL had fined the club over the fans' seemingly vulgar chants.
The fans also made special tifos for their players with the latest one of Udanta Singh attracting praise for its excellent design and artwork.
Maybe a couple of the customers could take a cue out of the West Block Blues and stick behind the club even during its downs.
#3. Bengaluru FC core remains
Bengaluru FC have a distinct identity when it comes to their football and that's mainly because they have a core group of players who have stuck around.
Even though a couple of players left the club at the end of the 2017/18 season, Bengaluru ensured their main men remained.
Be it Sunil Chhetri, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Erik Paartalu or Rahul Bheke, who have signed long-term deals, Bengaluru have rewarded faith and the players have given their 100 per cent on the field.
Midfielder Dimas Delgado stayed back and he's proven to be quite a handful for opposition defenders. Signing Miku was the biggest coup last season but Bengaluru went to all lengths to ensure the Venezuelan would stay for another season.
Miku had 15 goals in 20 matches last season and gave Ferran Corominas a fight for the Golden Boot. This season, his role for the club has evolved and although the number of goals has reduced (4 goals in 9 appearances), you cannot underestimate his influence in the attack. Miku had to miss a large part of the season due to injury but he hasn't looked back since his return to the squad.
Miku helped 10-man Bengaluru defeat Goa 3-0 last week and that performance alone justifies why he's one of the most feared attackers in the league.
Apart from Miku, familiar faces like Chhetri, Udanta Singh and Juanan have kept the team going.
Coach Carles Cuadrat doesn't tinker with his core much. He only likes to bring on changes (apart from the substitutes) in case of injury or suspension.
The rotation of players started only when Bengaluru were inching closer to the playoffs and even for that, Cuadrat rewarded players for their commitment in training.
All these factors have helped Bengaluru play a brand of football that relies on keeping possession and building up play from the back.
#4. Bengaluru FC respond to set-back
Every team concedes and loses games but how it responds to those outlines the character and spirit of the players and coach.
Bengaluru FC were unbeaten for 12 games this season but it was snapped by Mumbai City. They then drew with Kerala Blasters after being two-nil down in the first half and lost two consecutive games to Chennaiyin FC and Delhi Dynamos.
Most teams in ISL have found it difficult to regain that momentum but Bengaluru steamrolled past Goa with just 10 men, which proves that they are not an easy side to beat.
Even during that unbeaten streak, Bengaluru had to find last-minute goals. Chencho Gyeltshen scored an overhead kick in the dying minutes against NorthEast United to keep Bengaluru unbeaten. Two months later, he scored the winner against them at home. Rahul Bheke and Udanta Singh are the others who have gifted Bengaluru a couple of winning goals.
These were not individual performances but the way the team responded to the situations in the game.
Bengaluru fight for supremacy throughout the 90 minutes and they never say die.
#5. Bengaluru FC's faith in Spanish Armada
Continuity is a problem that most of the ISL clubs face. Many sides play a certain way for a season and they had to adapt to a whole new style of coaching the subsequent season due to a change in personnel or philosophy.
In a certain way, Bengaluru avoided that by roping in Albert Roca's assistant Carles Cuadrat as the coach after Roca's departure.
Bengaluru had already adjusted themselves to playing possession-style football, preached by former Barcelona assistant Roca. When he departed, BFC either could go a new way or continue the process.
They chose the latter and that has resulted in Bengaluru dominating the league stage of the ISL for yet another season.
FC Goa similarly reposed faith in Sergio Lobera and a season later, this ISL is FC Goa's title to lose. Mumbai City similarly had Alexandre Guimaraes for two seasons before Jorge Costa took charge this time.
Two cases where this sort of continuity did not work is with Chennaiyin FC and Kerala Blasters.
That's mainly down to other teams figuring out the way Chennaiyin and Blasters would play. These coaches (John Gregory of Chennaiyin and David James of Kerala) offered no Plan B and did not adapt to the needs of the league.
Cuadrat, fortunately, is flexible. Cuadrat mainly dealt with set-pieces during Roca's stint with the club.
But that's not all he did. The Spaniard has continued Roca's process with BFC but has added a few of his own additions to keep his opponents guessing. Some of these adjustments include playing with a 5-man defence, exploiting the flanks and staging better counter-attacks.
Bengaluru go into the semifinals as one of the favourites to win the ISL. Can they go all the way?
ALSO SEE: ISL Points Table | ISL Schedule | ISL Results
