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Despite a narrow 2-1 defeat against ATK Mohun Bagan in their last game, Hyderabad FC are still sitting at the top of the league standings. In their next game, the Nizams face high-flying Bengaluru FC.
However, ahead of the game, head coach Manolo Marquez only had compliments to offer to his Bengaluru FC counterpart. The Spaniard also hit back at critics who had written off Marco Pezzaiuoli during BFC's initial slump.
Marquez said:
"I am happy for Marco (Pezzaiuoli), for the coach, because as a coach, sometimes you receive a lot of criticism. And, now I want to look where are these people who criticized him? It was very easy to criticize when things are bad, and now they are silent."
Bengaluru FC are unbeaten in their last nine matches and have been firing all cylinders in their previous few matches. Asked if Hyderabad FC could come away with three points from the encounter, Marquez said:
"We cannot think about how many points we need. We have to play against Bengaluru FC and see what happens. If we win, we will see things in a different way. And if we lose, we have to continue because till the last round, nothing will be decided. I think that we have to fight and we have to be focused in every game because all of them are very difficult. But for the other teams, it's exactly the same."
Check out the ISL top scorer here.
It will be a difficult game for both teams: Manolo Marquez on Hyderabad FC's clash against Bengaluru FC
Bengaluru FC are just three points behind HFC and are currently third in the points ISL table. Under Pezzaiuoli, the Blues have looked sharp in transition and have been disciplined while pressing.
Asked what kind of challenge BFC will pose, Manolo Marquez said:
"I think Bengaluru, they have good players. They have a clear style that they play, they are very strong in some aspects and they have very good players in all the lines. And I think that will be very difficult for us. But I think that if we are in our best performance, it will be a very difficult one for them too."
Both Cleiton Silva and Sunil Chhetri struggled during the initial phase of the season. But with the business end of the league approaching, the duo have picked up their form. How does Hyderabad FC plan to contain them?
"Cleiton Silva, Sunil Chhetri, Prince Ibara, Udanta Singh, Danish Farooq, all the players can score from set pieces. And it's not about Cleiton or Chhetri. You are speaking about two very good players, but I think that they have a lot of players that can score. For example, Roshan Naorem Singh is a very good young player. And with a great future in Indian football, not just only for Bengaluru FC. Of course Chhetri and Cleiton are very dangerous, but we have to be focused on all the players, we have to be focused on our style of play."
