With their respective wins on Sunday, Bengaluru FC and Mohun Bagan set up a meeting in the Federation Cup final on May 21.The two teams happen to be the last two champions of the tournament. Here are some more numbers in the run-up to the final:
2
This will be Bengaluru FC's second final in just their fourth Federation Cup. On the last occasion they beat Dempo 2-1 in Goa in January 2015, making it a 100 per cent record for teams from Bengaluru in Federation Cup history -- Indian Telephone Industries (ITI) won the first ever final 1-0 against Mohun Bagan in Ernakulam in 1977.
30
The match will be the 30th of 38 Federation Cup finals to feature at least one of Mohun Bagan or East Bengal. The two clubs have a combined 36 appearances in the finals of the tournament, and just two finals (2014 and 2015) in the last 12 years have not featured one of these teams. Mohun Bagan's 20th final and 14 titles are records -- with East Bengal a distant second on both counts at 16 and eight, respectively.
3
Mohun Bagan have reached the final in all three editions of the Federation Cup played in Cuttack. They beat Salgaocar 2-0 in 1987 but lost 1-0 to East Bengal in the 2010 final at the Barabati Stadium.
1
Mohun Bagan are the only unbeaten team in the 2017 Federation Cup, with Aizawl FC's defeat to Bengaluru FC and East Bengal's loss in the semi-finals breaking the unbeaten records of the two other sides that had been unbeaten in the group stages. The defending champions now have a 10-match unbeaten streak in the Federation Cup, with their last defeat (4-1) coming in the group stages of the 2014-15 edition to Salgaocar.
19
This is Mohun Bagan's first outright win in the Federation Cup over East Bengal in 19 years; they had won 2-1 in the final in September 1998 at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata. Their only other win in this period was on penalties in the 2008 semi-finals, also in Kolkata, before losing the next two encounters, including the 1-0 loss in the 2010 final in Cuttack.
2
Two Mohun Bagan strikers -- Darryl Duffy and Balwant Singh, both with three goals each -- are tied with Aizawl FC's Laldanmawia Ralte as top scorers of the 2017 Federation Cup. Unless something dramatic happens in the final, they are unlikely to be overtaken by anybody from Bengaluru FC -- Udanta Singh, Eugeneson Lyngdoh, Alwyn George and Cameron Watson have all scored one goal each.
6
The final on May 21 will be the sixth meeting between Bengaluru FC and Mohun Bagan this season. The first of those matches took place in Bengaluru on March 11. They have met in two I-League games, one Federation Cup group game and one leg of the AFC Cup -- with the results being two draws and one win apiece. They will meet for the fifth time midweek in the AFC Cup in Kolkata, where Bengaluru have a mathematical chance of advancing this season but Bagan don't. Whoever wins Sunday's final will be assured of an AFC Cup slot for the 2018 season.
42
Forty-two goals have been scored in 14 matches of the 2017 Federation Cup, making it three goals per game on an average. Mohun Bagan have had the best scoring record, with their 10 goals being three more than what Shillong Lajong have scored. They also share the best defensive record with East Bengal, both teams having conceded three goals apiece.