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Kerala Blasters FC and Girona FC will face off at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi in what will be the final match of the Toyota Yaris LaLiga World tournament, the first pre-season friendly tournament involving foreign clubs held in India.
The Blasters are coming off the back of a humiliating 0-6 loss to A-League side Melbourne City FC, while Girona defeated the same opposition 6-0 earlier on Friday. The writing is on the wall -- Girona are much, much stronger than the City Blues and David James' team will have to be much, much disciplined if they want to avoid another big defeat.
The other day, Kerala Blasters looked especially harrowed defensively and were outplayed in every department by the hard-working Melbourne.
However, as their head coach said in the pre-match conference, "We will not want to put any sort of pressure on us by thinking about our opponents, we are here to play some good competitive football and entertain the home crowd. It will be a great learning for all the young players from our team to face a top-tier European club like Girona."
Girona, on the other hand, will be bursting with confidence after their thumping win. They'll definitely be aiming to win the trophy at the end of their pre-season campaign in India but for that, they will have to get a result on Saturday.
The Aleix Garcia led side will look to thrill the Indian fans with their skills and given their strength, a win is widely expected. However, they cannot afford to let any complacency creep in. They will also have to be wary of the vociferous home support which could act as a massive morale booster for Sandesh Jhingan and Co. All in all, it does promise to be an exciting contest.
Here is all you need to know about the match:
Date: July 28, 2018
Tournament: Toyota Yaris LaLiga World
Match: Kerala Blasters FC vs Girona FC
Time: 7 PM Indian Standard Time (IST)
Venue: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Kochi
Broadcast: Star Sports 2 & Star Sports HD 2
Live Stream: Hotstar
You can also follow all LIVE updates here!
Do you think Girona will stroll to another win or can Kerala Blasters spring a surprise or two? Have your say in the comments section!
