Kolkata Derby - Nothing is Bigger than this

As the City of Joy, Kolkata gears up for the first derby of 2013, memories of the last derby between the arch rivals Mohun Bagan and East Bengal on the 9^th of December remains fresh ion the minds of all those present in the Salt Lake Stadium on that fateful day when a stray brick flew into the ground from the Mohun Bagan gallery, hitting their own player Syed Rahim Nabi, leading to a broken cheek bone for the Indian international. 

Mohun Bagan refused to come out in the second half citing safety issues, leading to one of the biggest controversies that the fledgling I-League has faced in its six years of existence with the National Club of India being banned for two years from the competition, a sanction that was overturned later on appeal and reduced to a fine of 2 crores in Indian currency as well as a points deduction. Mohun Bagan resumed their I-League campaign with zero points after 10 matches.

At the moment, The Mariners are faced with the uphill task of hauling in the likes of United Sikkim and Salgaocar, who are just above them in the relegation dogfight in a situation that is extremely new to a club that has fought for titles for decades now.

East Bengal, on the other hand, are still in with a chance of bringing the I-League to Kolkata for the first time and the match today will be one of the biggest in the history of the two clubs as the top side of the I-League takes on the bottom placed club.

With so much hype surrounding the match, it is expected that the strict measures adopted by Mohun Bagan, the hosts of the match to prevent any crowd trouble would come good and sense will prevail no matter what the result.


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Posted by Subham Mitra on behalf of FootballWorld.