ISL: Jose Molina’s Mohun Bagan ignite the best-in-business debate

Nilesh Bhattacharya / TNN / Apr 14, 2025, 11:22 IST

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Jose Molina's Mohun Bagan Super Giant capped off a historic 2024-2025 season by securing the Shield-Cup double, highlighted by a comeback victory against Bengaluru FC. With a record-breaking 19 wins and 52 goals, they've set a new standard in the ISL. Molina emphasized hard work and belief as the keys to their success, praising his impactful substitutions in the final.

ISL: Jose Molina’s Mohun Bagan ignite the best-in-business debate

Mohun Bagan Super Giants' captain Subhasish Bose, left, and coach Jose Molina pose with the Indian Super League (ISL) 2024-25 trophy on the eve of the final football match against Bengaluru FC at Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata. (PTI)

Kolkata: Is Jose Molina’s Mohun Bagan Super Giant the best team in Indian Super League’s 11-year-old history?
Finishing the 2024-2025 season with a remarkable Shield-Cup double, with record-breaking 19 wins and 52 goals, Mohun Bagan have set a benchmark for other teams to emulate. It’s perhaps ideal for them to complete the double with a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Bengaluru FC at their boisterous fortress �?the Salt Lake Stadium �?which was brought to its feet in game after game in salute of a genuinely special team at play and its repertoire of promise and panache.
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History will remember Sergio Lobera’s Mumbai City FC as the first team to do the ISL double when, backed by the financial and technical might of the City Football Group which owns Man City, they achieved the target in Goa in 2020-2021 at a time when the world was existing in a bubble.

Molina’s Bagan, in a way, made the real noise. Like Mumbai City of five seasons ago, they too have had a strong financial backing from principal team owner Sanjiv Goenka. Like Lobera’s side, Molina’s team also has had the strongest squad in the league. Bagan’s ascent to a triumphant finish to the league, many believe, looked destined before the season started rolling.
Of course, Lobera’s FC Goa in 2019-20 and Des Buckingham’s Mumbai City in 2022-2023 were special in their own rights, but there was also a lingering lament that both these teams failed to explore their full potentiality.

Mohun Bagan beat Bengaluru FC to complete the ISL Shield and Cup double. (Image: ISL)

True that football, just like life, doesn’t always follow scripts of one’s liking. Credit to Molina for turning his team into a winning machine running on the engine of consistency, character and never-say-die mentality.
Take for example the Spaniard’s use of substitutions in the second half here on Saturday, bringing Ashique Kuruniyan and Sahal Abdul Samad in place of an off-colour Liston Colaco and an ineffective Anirudh Thapa.
“Sahal and Ashique had their moment in the final. You need great players on the bench who can wait for their moment and change the game,�?Molina said after the match. “But at the end of the day, there’s no secret to success. It’s all about hard work and belief,�?the Bagan coach pointed out.

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