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The last time Mohun Bagan SG hosted Mumbai City FC, the Islanders won their second ISL trophy. The fixture before, at the same venue, saw the Kolkata giants beat Mumbai for the only time in the league’s history to lift the Shield.
The two powerhouses will kick off ISL 2024-25 at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on Friday, September 13. Both sides have had a slew of changes, with big players leaving and other high-profile signings coming on board. However, one that grabbed maximum eyeballs and will continue to make headlines, was the crossover of central midfielder Apuia from Mumbai to Kolkata.
“It will be an interesting match for me, especially because we are playing Mumbai City FC in the first match. And this is my dream to play for Kolkata club Mohun Bagan, one of the biggest clubs not only in India but in Asia as well. So it is a dream come true for me.
“And playing against my old club Mumbai is going to be interesting. But it’s not just about Mumbai; in order to be champions, we need to win many matches. So the aim will be to try to win tomorrow’s match,” Lalengmawaia Ralte, popularly known as Apuia, told reporters at the Mohun Bagan club on match eve.
In the final last year, Apuia had the joint highest pass accuracy (88 percent) – along with Bagan defender Hector Yuste – among everyone who played a minimum 15 minutes. He was a rock in the midfield, having also made two interceptions. After an opening goal against the run of play, Mohun Bagan lacked penetration and cutting edge to eventually lose 1-3.
“Last year, when we played here, it was me against you guys. And this time, it will be me against Mumbai. It will be something special for me and I am really excited to play in front of the fans. Last time when we played against them, they gave us a lot of pressure. And this time, they will be cheering for me. So that will be a massive boost of energy for me and I am very excited,” he said.
Apuia’s career took off when he was picked in the Indian Arrows in November 2017. The move came right after he played the Under-17 World Cup, in which he was the sole representative from Mizoram. He graduated into the ISL when NorthEast United signed him on free transfer ahead of the 2019-20 season. During the two-year stint, Apuia became the youngest ever ISL captain, won the Emerging Player and FPAI Young Player awards in 2020-21, made his senior India debut against Oman, before being snaffled up by Mumbai for a whopping ₹2 crore.
“It has been a great journey for me, not only at Mumbai and now at Mohun Bagan, but even while playing for NorthEast, and also the Indian Arrows. And joining Mohun Bagan was a dream come true, like how it is for most players. Playing here and training with some of the best players in the country and the high-profile foreigners we have right now, feels great and is a great learning experience. There is still room for improvement, for me as well as the team. So we will work hard on that,” the 23-year-old stated.
Apuia, who has a jolly front with an innocent smile, has become an indispensable part of the national side. He, however, missed the final two 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Kuwait and Qatar to write his first year exams. He is pursuing a Master of Arts in Sociology from IGNOU, New Delhi.
“It’s very important to have good academics. It’s very difficult to learn things otherwise, not only in football but in other jobs as well. You need to have a good background to perform at a high level. So it helps me a lot,” Apuia opined.
He made it clear that the prospect of playing in the AFC Champions League was difficult to turn down. Following the revamp of the Asian club competitions structure earlier this year, Mohun Bagan secured the direct spot in AFC Champions League Two by winning the league. East Bengal FC lost the qualifier and will play in the AFC Challenge League, the third tier men’s AFC club competition.
“About shifting here, it wasn’t that difficult somehow. Because as we all know, we are going to play in ACL-2 and that’s very important for me to be able to play in such a tournament and to prove myself in Asia. So that was one of the main reasons and I think we can be successful there because of the squad we have,” he mentioned.
Mohun Bagan will begin their Asian campaign against Tajikistan's Ravshan Kulob at home on September 18. They have been drawn in Group A, which also has Al-Wakrah SC (Qatar) and Tractor FC (Iran).
"I wish him the best for the rest of the season, but not against us" - Apuia pulls Chhangte's leg
The 2022-23 ISL winners have an enviable Indian engine room comprising Anirudh Thapa, Sahal Abdul Samad, Liston Colaco, Manvir Singh, Ashique Kuruniyan, Deepak Tangri, among others. Add Greg Stewart, arguably the best playmaker in the league, to the list. And yet, Apuia was introduced as the “midfield general” by the Mohun Bagan media manager before the pre-match press conference.
“Even last year, I already said I am not ‘young Apuia’ anymore. We cannot always rely on foreigners. So this is the time for me to step up and take responsibility for both Mohun Bagan, and the national team,” he said, almost as if telling himself.
Making it clear that trophies need contributions from every single member, Apuia added he has a good equation with most of his new teammates.
“Success doesn’t depend on any particular players; football is a team game. Everyone will be important, even more so if someone gets injured. And as far as the midfield is concerned, there is no player who I haven’t trained with before. Maybe Abhishek [Suryavanshi] is the only one I haven’t trained with. In the national team, I have played with Sahal, Thapa, Tangri, and I even played with Greg Stewart at Mumbai. So I have a good connection with all of them,” he explained.
The transfer to Mohun Bagan, however, took him away from his “best friend” Lallianzuala Chhangte. The duo forms an invaluable part of the Indian team, and did the same at Mumbai, with Apuia leading the first line of defence and Chhangte prowling in the final third.
“He is a good guy, Chhangte, he is a very good guy. And I am very close to him. He was my best friend at Mumbai, and even in the national team. We have a very good relationship. And I wish him the best for the rest of the season, but not against us,” he laughed.
When asked who has got the edge, knowing each other’s strengths and weaknesses, Apuia chuckled:
“I cannot say that here, we need to show it on the field.”
Mohun Bagan-Mumbai City matches have been extremely closely-fought affairs in the past couple of years. Whether Apuia manages to tie down new skipper Chhange, will go a long way in deciding the outcome of the ISL 2024-25 opener.
"I am not thinking about only two Mumbai players" - Jose Molina
Australian forward Jamie Maclaren is still battling injury and is yet to undergo a full training session. He was, however, seen engaging in fun warm-up drills with the rest of the squad on Thursday. But in a major boost to the Mohun Bagan defence, Spanish defender Alberto Rodriguez has become fit and is ready to play, according to head coach Jose Molina.
The Mariners conceded seven goals in the three knockout matches of the recently-concluded Durand Cup, with all three going into penalties.
“To me, the probe isn’t about one player or one part of the team. We have a problem as an entire team if we do have a problem. That’s all the players and me as a coach. We’ll try to solve that problem and support everyone. You may think we have a problem on the left side of our defence, but I’m going to coach my team to play together, for the 11 players to defend and attack together and be a strong team as a whole. It’s not about the quality of individual players.
“Of course, we are not happy to be conceding goals and we are trying to solve that to not concede so often. But that is a part of football, a part of process under a new coach and I’m not worried about that because I’m sure the team will play and we’ll attack and defend better every match, but the full team as a whole. That’s the key for me,” Molina elaborated in the pre-match media interaction.
With Rodriguez match-fit, Mohun Bagan are likely to start with the usual three at the back, Tom Aldred and Subhasish Bose being the other two. They will have their task cut out against Mumbai City’s electric forward line comprising Chhangte, Vikram Partap Singh and new forward Nikolas Karelis.
“The plan is to defend as a whole team. We need to defend together, attack together and try that they don’t have the ball for a lot of time. If they don’t have the ball, they’ll be nervous even if they’re really good players. I’m not thinking about only two Mumbai players, they have very good players overall.
"The wingers are dangerous, but they have other players who can be dangerous too. We have to defend as a team when they attack as a team. It’s not about individuals. We have to be a strong team defensively and going forward, everyone together,” Molina, who coached the now-defunct ATK to the ISL title in 2016, exhorted.
Even Apuia voiced the need to thwart the attacking endeavours of his previous teammates Chhangte and Bipin Singh.
“Bipin and Chhange always have good seasons. They are fantastic players and it’s very difficult to stop them when they are in form. But we will try to stop them as much as possible. They are very fast. So the thing we need to do is, give them less space and time. And we will work on it with the coach, who must have a good plan, and I hope we can stop them,” he said.
Apuia and Anirudh Thapa will take guard in front of the defence, with Liston Colaco and Manvir Singh being the full-backs. In attack, both Dimitri Petratos and Jason Cummings should start along with Sahal Abdul Samad.
In the last final, it was Chhangte’s blocked shot which was served up by Jakub Vojtus for a tap-in by Bipin. The goal all but sealed the title for Mumbai. Vojtus later got on the scoresheet himself in added time.
“I didn’t see much of the last season. But last season is last season. Now is a new chapter with new teams. We have a new coach and new players too. I think this match will be absolutely different from last season. Again, it doesn’t matter what happened last season. Past is past. We now have to work with the present and that is what we are trying to do, that is win tomorrow,” Molina stated.
In 10 ISL meetings, Mohun Bagan have gotten the better of Mumbai City only once. Under a new coach, in a new season, maybe that head-to-head is indeed irrelevant.
