Chennaiyin FC take on Atletico de Kolkata in the second semifinal first leg game of the Indian Super League this season on Saturday, 12 December, at the Balewadi Stadium in Pune.
This is the first time in the history of ISL that a team is not playing their home game in their own stadium. The Marina Arena in Chennai is now being used to provide relief measures to all those affected by the massive floods in the region.
The mood may be a bit sombre among the Chennaiyin FC fans, but there will definitely be some diaspora of people from Chennai residing in Pune to cheer for their team tonight from the stadium.
ISL champions Atletico de Kolkata, meanwhile, might be having a slight edge as they have been in this situation last year too. Antonio Habas' side made their way through to the finals after bossing over FC Goa over the two legs of the playoffs last year to go on and lift the trophy.
They would be hoping for a similar luck this time as well, but Chennaiyin FC are not an easy opponent by any means. Marco Materazzi's side have to do something they have never done before. Chennaiyin FC have never been able to beat ATK in two seasons of the ISL.
"Last year, we won two games against Kerala [Blasters] and we all saw what happened in the semi-finals. The semi-final is a different game," Materazzi said. "Kolkata have an excellent team, excellent coach and the right attitude. This will be a good game."
Antonio Habas is not concerned about his team's records over Chennaiyin FC in the past. The semi-finals are a different ball game altogether, and he affirms that. "In football, in the semi-finals, it is impossible to choose a favourite. That's the thing about professional football, you cannot choose a favourite," the Spanish coach said.
"We may have two difficult games, we may not win this away game, we may lose. So we will focus on intelligent play. It is 50% for us and 50% for Chennai. It's football. It's not an advantage for us. It's 90 mins of football."
The match gives an opportunity to find out who wins in the race for the ISL Golden Boot. Stiven Mendoza (Chennaiyin FC) leads the pack with 11 goals, while Iain Hume (Atletico de Kolkata) is a close second at 10 goals.
For Chennaiyin FC, marquee player Elano and Indian defender Mehrajuddin Wadoo remains suspended for the game.
Where to watch
The ISL semi final first leg tie between between Chennaiyin FC and Atletico de Kolkata is scheduled to kick-off on Saturday at 7 pm IST (2:30 pm BST, 9:30 am ET).
Viewers in India can catch the game on Star Sports 2, Star Sports HD2, Star Sports 3,Star Sports HD3, Star Utsav, Star Gold (both Hindi), Asianet Movies (Malayalam), Jaya Max (Tamil), Suvarna TV (Kannada) and Jalsha Movies (Bengali). The live streaming is available on Starsports.com and Hotstar.
Viewers in the UK, South East Asia, Singapore, and Hong Kong can catch the game onStar Gold.
Viewers in Canada can watch the game on CBN and ATN.
Viewers in the US and Australia can tune in to Fox Sports. The live streaming is available on Foxsoccer2Go and Foxtel.
Eurosport remains the destination for the viewers in Europe. The live streaming is available on Eurosport Player.
Audience in the Middle East and North Africa can also catch the ISL game on OSN, with live streaming option on OSN Play.
