Margao: Fatorda should be buzzing on Sunday as two of Indian football’s big rivals meet again on the biggest domestic stage.




The Nehru Stadium in Fatorda has seen some fantastic battles between Churchill Brothers and East Bengal . There have been some crazy results, hat-tricks, sudden death triumphs, and even heartbreaks. It’s hard to forget a marathon tiebreaker that was decided after all players were forced to take penalty kicks. Churchill won that Federation Cup quarterfinal clash in 2005, and two years later, Odafe Okolie scored a stunning first-half hat-trick to floor the Kolkata giants.




Those wins are only part of memories. These are different times.




Churchill are debutants in the Indian Super League (ISL), and East Bengal the defending champions, having tasted success for the first time last season.




“I counted the (competitive) games that East Bengal have played, a minimum of 14 or 15, and they’ve been training since June. We have played just one official game and trained for about five weeks,” Churchill coach Dimitris Dimitriou told TOI. “In terms of games and competitions, they are more ready than us. This is obvious. We are facing the defending champions, so we are facing a very big team, but we will be ready to face them.”




Just one round has been played so far, and East Bengal have not even kicked the ball in the top tier league. At this stage, it’s hard to pick a favourite. NorthEast United’s win against Mohun Bagan defied the odds, and Churchill themselves proved they can be more than a handful on their debut against Mumbai City .




“As you can see from the results, the gap is not too big in the ISL,” said Dimitris.




East Bengal are no ordinary side. They won the ISL last season, Durand Cup a couple of months ago, lost the IFA Shield final against bitter rivals Mohun Bagan and were impressive in two group stage games of the AFC Champions League Two. But regardless of results and trophies in Cup or pre-season tournaments, coach Antonio Lopez Habas should know that he and his team will be judged on what happens in the ISL.




“We are very much prepared for the ISL,” said Habas. “We had a very good pre-season. Not one but three pre-seasons. We had to play the Durand Cup, AFC Qualifiers, IFA Shield and now AFC group matches which are in progress. So, we are well prepared for the season to begin, and it is a very important campaign for us.”




Five years after their last gridlock, the giants renew their rivalry. Their recent encounters – two draws in the last three games – have been tight, and at the heart of a new dramatic chapter is Habas, who knows Churchill all too well from his stint with Inter Kashi, whose surge towards the I-League title has been well documented.




“In the first leg, when we won 3-2 in Kalyani, Mr. Habas disrespected me,” recalled Dimitriou. “But for me, this is nothing. We are focused on our game. We welcome every single opponent, every single coach.




Maybe, this is no longer just a match; there are personal scores to settle too.