ISL Preview: Mumbai City FC gear up for tough opener

Sergio Lobera

Mumbai City FC (MCFC) open their Indian Super League campaign against NorthEast United (NEUFC) today and coach Sergio Lobera wants his team to quickly adjust to the new normal and get off the blocks with a win at the Tilak Maidan Stadium in Vasco, Goa.

Lobera, 43, will come up against another Spaniard, Gerard Nus, who took over the reins of the Highlanders in August. The franchise-based league's seventh edition is being played in a bio-bubble in Goa due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and MCFC had to shorten their pre-season due to this, making things tougher.

"It's going to be a difficult game considering we had a very short pre-season. But there are no excuses as all the teams had to face similar issues during the pre-season," said Lobera during a virtual press conference on Friday.

"We tried to work on our game and style of play during the time together to arrive in the best possible condition for the first competitive game," he added.

NEUFC were recently jolted by two COVID-19 positive cases in the team, leading to the entire squad being isolated.

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