SC East Bengal will be ready for the Kolkata derby: Manuel Manolo Diaz

SC East Bengal’s newly appointed head coach Manuel Manolo Diaz has said that his team will be ready for the Kolkata derby against ATK Mohun Bagan. Football Sports Development Limited has announced the fixtures of Hero Indian Super League 2021-22 season in which SC East Bengal will face arch-rivals ATK Mohun Bagan on 27th November at the Tilak Maidan Stadium in Goa.

Meanwhile, SC East Bengal had made their ISL debut in the previous season under Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler. However, the Red and Gold brigade didn’t have a great season as they could manage three wins from their 20 league stage matches.

Furthermore, they lost both their matches against ATK Mohun Bagan by 2-0 and 3-1 in the league stage. ATK Mohun Bagan, on the other hand, finished as the runners-up of the tournament as they lost 2-1 against Mumbai City FC in the final of the tournament.

“I know all the talk is around the derby which is the second game for us. Although we will have only a short time to prepare, I respect the emotions of the fans and all I can say is, we will be ready,” Diaz said after the league rolled out the fixtures for the first 11 rounds on Monday.

Meanwhile, Diaz has the experience of coaching Real Madrid’s B and C teams in the past and has more than two decades of coaching experience under his belt. Diaz understands that it is going to be a tough five-month season as the schedule is jam-packed and there is not much gap between the team’s matches.

“The fixture list is quite tight, and games will come at us thick and fast. We will prepare well ahead of our first encounter against Jamshedpur FC.”

SC East Bengal will begin their ISL 2021-22 campaign against Jamshedpur FC on 21st November at Tilak Maidan Stadium and they will look to come up with a better performance in their second ISL season.