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'I love it when people say Mumbai City are the favourites' - Sergio Lobera proud his work with the Islanders
Lobera is eyeing his second piece of silverware in his first season at Mumbai City...
Mumbai City head coach Sergio Lobera insists that he has nothing to prove to his former club FC Goa ahead of the 2020-21 Indian Super League (ISL) play-offs tie between the two teams.
Having won the ISL League Shield with Mumbai City, something that he almost achieved with the Goan outfit before parting ways with only a few remaining, the Spaniard opined that facing Goa in the first leg of the semi-finals on Friday or on any other occasion will always remain special.
"It's a special game because we are paying semi-finals with the option to win the (ISL) trophy which will be a big achievement after finishing at the top of the table. We need to be smart and ready to play 180 minutes and tomorrow is the first step. We are working as always to put the focus on ourselves and to improve, he said.
Under pressure to deliver?
"I don't feel the pressure. I'm very happy with the effort and good job of my players. Now let's enjoy the playoffs. I felt a big challenge when I arrived here and I accepted it because it's good for us, because when you have a big challenge it's because you're working with a very good team.
"I think I have proved a lot of things when I was working there (at Goa). We won the first title (2019 Super Cup) in the history of the club, three playoffs in a row (under his stint) and in the last season we achieved the option to play in the (AFC) Champions League this season," Lobera said.
The Spanish coach went on to stress the importance of City Football Group (CFG) coming on board at the club.
"Obviously, I could celebrate this (League Winner's Shield) on the pitch (with Mumbai City). This is a big difference and I think we deserved to lift this shield after the last game against ATK Mohun Bagan (2-0 win) because we have a done a good job (through the season).
"As a coach, you always want to win and achieve something important and trophies, especially this year working with City Football Group and Mumbai City is amazing. City Football Group has given us all the tools to work in the best possible condition and I want to pay back this confidence by achieving more (trophies)," he assumed.
Can Le Fondre, Ogbeche and Boumous play together?
Mumbai City will be encouraged by the return of Hugo Boumous who has served his four-game ban and Lobera has explored the possibility of playing the Frenchman along with Adam le Fondre and Bartholomew Ogbeche who have started a couple of games together of late.
"You know [that] Boumous is a very important player for our style of play. He can help us a lot now in this moment. His four-game ban was painful for us but we respect the rules and now we have him back. It's important to use him now and hopefully for the final.
"Adam and Ogbeche played very well (together). Boumous can also play together (with them). I need to think what is the best option but it's an amazing problem for me as a coach," Lobera pondered.
Who are the favourites?
Ahead of the two teams' last league meeting that ended in a 3-3 draw, Lobera's comment that the pressure was on Juan Ferrando's side to qualify was rebutted by the Goan side's coach by putting the onus on Mumbai City to win the title given the money the club has spent this season.
"It's amazing when the other coach treats us as a favourite. I want this because this means that they respect us and it's good for us. I love when people speak of us as favourite team because this means that they are thinking we are better than them. I love this pressure but finally we need to play on the pitch. It's easy to use some words about who are the favourites in the press conference but finally, we need to show this on the pitch," Lobera said.
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