ISL 2022-23: Mumbai City FC face red hot Bengaluru FC in the first leg of semi-finals

League Shield Winners Mumbai City FC will be eager to bounce back with a positive result against Bengaluru FC in the first leg of their Hero Indian Super League (ISL) semi-final fixture at the Mumbai Football Arena on Tuesday. 

The League Shield Winners finished the league stage with two consecutive losses, one of which was to Bengaluru FC, and they'll try to snap their opponents' nine-game winning streak to gain the upper hand going into the second leg on Sunday.

Mumbai City FC will be especially motivated to defeat the Blues after becoming the first to defeat them this season, preventing them from achieving a perfect, undefeated record before the playoffs. This comes after a two-week break following the conclusion of their league stage.

Mumbai City FC lost to East Bengal FC in the final match of the league season, marking their second defeat overall and their first on home turf. Des Buckingham, the team's head coach, fielded a second-string team against the Torch Bearers but will switch to his strongest squad for the first leg of the semi-final, which will include talisman Greg Stewart, who has been sidelined with an injury for a few weeks.

"I see it [two-legged semi-final] as two individual games. You have to plan for the 90 minutes that you are about to face knowing the outcome could influence the second part, but there is no point in looking at the second part till we are done with the first," said Buckingham. "We will approach this game as we have approached all games this season. We have had two weeks to plan, prepare, rest, and recover and everybody is in a good space," he added.

Bengaluru FC has a 9-game winning streak entering the semi-final.

The hosts won convincingly by a score of 4-0 at the Mumbai Football Arena earlier this season. Bengaluru FC will keep that in mind, despite the more recent outcome and momentum being in their favour due to Mumbai City FC's 16-day hiatus since their most recent match. Roy Krishna and Siva Narayanan, the team's pacemakers on the counterattack, will likely start with the same starting lineup under head coach Simon Grayson.

"To be the first team to beat them after such an unbelievable season was a real highlight for us," said Grayson. "We have done well against them, but previous games will count for nothing. In these two-legged games, it's all about who handles the pressure better. It will be about who gets the breaks, who gets a little bit of luck, and who plays well," he added.

Including the two league fixtures this season, the two sides have met 12 times in the Hero ISL. Mumbai City FC have won six times, while Bengaluru FC have emerged victorious on five occasions. The only draw in this fixture came in 2018, which could suggest another fast-paced game is on the cards.