Bengaluru, March 10 (IANS) Bengaluru FC head coach Albert Roca on Saturday admitted that his team will be under pressure as they are playing at home and "have it in their hands" to enter the Indian Super League (ISL) final when they take on FC Pune City in the semi-final second leg here on Sunday.
"If I tell you something different, I will not tell you the truth. It's obvious that we have that pressure. But we have to accept it because this is a human emotion and something that we can experience," Roca told reporters on the eve of the marquee clash.
Both teams played out a goalless draw in the first leg at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune on Wednesday.
"But these boys have played big games before. We have players who have played AFC Cup semifinals, finals, Federation Cup finals. The intention is to go out there and do our best," Roca said.
"We have to accept the reality and then go ahead and try to do our best. When we finished first, it was not the end of the season. Now it's in our hands to win. We have to accept the challenge," the Spaniard added.
Bengaluru will start hot favourites owing to their imperious form leading up to the semis. The ISL debutants are on a nine-game unbeaten run, winning seven of those. They finished with 40 points in the league stages, eight ahead of second-placed Chennaiyin FC.
Asked about the first leg, Roca said the aim was to get a cleansheet on the road with the new 'away goal' rule introduced in the ISL.
"Pune has a very good team and players that can make a difference in attack. We wanted to get a clean sheet in Pune. It could give us more options. We wanted to score we were not so good.
"I hope my team can play a good game tomorrow and score some goals. I think they can score as they have a very good team. We have to be aware but at the same time be ambitious and consistent," the 55-year old opined.
Meanwhile, Pune will be without their head coach Ranko Popovic who was suspended by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) Disciplinary Committee for his comments against referees and match officials.
Assistant coach Vladica Grujic said they know how good a side Bengaluru are but the game on Sunday is one they cannot afford to let go as they have to win it.
"We are coming here to win this game. We don't have another option," Grujic said at the pre match media conference.
"We know how strong Bengaluru are but we want to win this game desperately. We know our strong points. We know how strong players they have. We want to do our things and give our best," he added.
The last time the two sides met at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium here, it was a 1-1 draw. Pune finished fourth in the points table having 30 points from 18 outings.
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