FC Pune City head coach Miguel Portugal is motivated to get the team's first win of the campaign when they take on Mumbai City in their second Indian Super League (ISL) match on Friday.
The Stallions picked up just a point after being held by Delhi Dynamos in their season opener. The manager is hopeful of a win after studying his opponents over two games.
"It's the second match for us. I know that they lost their first match here against Jamshedpur but against Kerala Blasters Mumbai City played well. I think it was a different match against Jamshedpur. I think they played well in the first half. But I know what's the problem with Mumbai City and we'll try to win here."
Although Mumbai have failed to win either of their games, Portugal believes that it will be a tough outing for Pune City.
"I know very well how Mumbai City play. I've seen their matches against Jamshedpur and Kerala. I know about their players and quality of play. Goian is a good player. They have a good personality, responsibility and character in defence. They have quality players in the midfield like Paulo Machado, Rafael Bastos, Matias Mirabaje. They have a good pace up front with Arnold, Pranjal and Fernandes. They are not bad when it falls down to just speed. We must be ready."
Next Match
"Mumbai have three players who are very important. In defence it's Goian. He can play the ball from the back. Paulo Machado and Rafael Bastos are very good at keeping possession but their problem is that they lack speed.
But for that, they have Arnold Issoko, Pranjal (Bhumij) and Fernandes. We know their strengths and their weaknesses and we will try to contain them."
The Spaniard was unhappy with his team's performance in their opener and maintained that they can't carry on like that. However, Portugal won't be altering the crux of his team's philosophy until it proves to be most opportune.
"We played a bad match in our philosophy. They (Delhi) scored one goal openly. They win the ball, gain possession and unbalance their rival. Then they play it outside or inside, but with one purpose: to finish."
"We played badly in our first game according to our concept. I like to play outside because when you use your fullbacks to go forward and cross the ball, you have a very good possibility of scoring a goal. This is our idea. If it's not hard playing it outside, try playing it inside. If the opponent team is open, we must play inside. This is also a style. But that (playing it outside) is constant for us."
Portugal was definitely not happy with the fixture congestion and hinted that he might have to compromise on a few players for Friday's game to prepare the team for the Bengaluru FC test which is just four days from now.
"I don't know at this moment if Marcelinho will be there in the squad tomorrow. We had 15 days off for this match. But now we have just two days gap before we play Bengaluru. Tomorrow (Friday) I might choose (some) players and maybe some other players for the match against Bengaluru"
