Petr Kratky: Excited to test new Mumbai City signings 'against the best' in ISL opener

New Delhi, Sep 10 (IANS) The 2024/25 Indian Super League season is all set to kick-off on September 13 and it will be Mohun Bagan Super Giants vs Mumbai City at the Salt Lake Stadium to kick-off the 11th edition of the tournament.

With Mumbai City opting to sit their first team out of the 2024 Durand Cup, for their pre-season training camp in Thailand, questions are being raised as to how the new additions in the team will adjust to their new surroundings. Head coach Petr Kratky is looking forward to the matchup as it will help him get a clearer landscape of where things stand.

"I am very happy to play Mohun Bagan in the first game as we have quite a few new additions in the team and I want to know how we are against the best. We will evaluate how we are against the best team in the league," Kratky told IANS.

Mumbai City and Mohun Bagan Super Giants was perhaps the most important fixtures in the league last season. With the ISL Shield up for grabs, both sides met in the final league game of the season in Kolkata in April, which saw MBSG triumph 2-1 and clinch the league trophy.

However, they met again in the final at the same venue but Kratly’s side prevailed 3-1 to clinch the ISL Cup so it will be interesting to see which team gets off to a winning start in their hunt to defend their respective trophies.

Kratky has a lot to be excited for as Mumbai City have made a number of additions to an already explosive team. The team has brought in the likes of Jon Toral, Brandon Fernandes, Nikolaos Karelis and Daniel Lalhlimpuia to name a few, all of whom are exciting additions to any attacking unit

He went on to talk about the addition of Brandon in specific and how ‘excited’ he is for the whole squad he has at his disposal.

"Brandon is a very good player, good character, he works hard and that’s all you can ask for. I have seen him play in big competition games, he is doing great in training. I am very excited about Brandon and hopefully he will contribute to the team, the same way he did in Goa," said Kratky

"We've got Vikram, Chhangte , Noufal, Bipin, Toral, Nikum and Daniel. There are a lot of new faces that I am excited to introduce to the ISL this season with the youngsters," he added.