"In a derby, the league position doesn't matter" - Mario Rivera ahead of SC East Bengal's clash against ATK Mohun Bagan

After tasting a 4-0 hammering at the hands of Hyderabad FC, SC East Bengal next face Kolkata rivals ATK Mohun Bagan in the ISL 2021-22 on Saturday. Although the Red & Gold Brigade are at the bottom of the points table, head coach Mario Rivera believes in a derby, league positions don't matter.

Ahead of the Kolkata derby, the new SC East Bengal boss, speaking to the media, said:

"Of course, we can win. When you're playing a derby, you're facing your top rival and you're ready to win. The league position or the situation either team is in does not matter."

SC East Bengal were handed a humbling drubbing in the last game. Asked how difficult it will be for the players to turn around after the loss, Rivera said:

"It's normal. Sometimes you lose and sometimes you draw or win. As players and coaches, we have to be ready because you will lose more times than you will win. As professionals you have to be ready for that. Whether you lose or win, after the game you'll have to start again from scratch."

Rivera had earlier taken over East Bengal after the club parted ways with former head coach Alejandro Menendez. He has a 100% success rate in the Kolkata derby. Asked how the gaffer would try to explain to his players, especially foreigners, the importance of the derby, he said:

"Yeah. I'm talking with the foreign players and trying to explain to them how the Kolkata derby is. Because they will play without the crowd and for them it's important to see. Today, I will show them some videos of the matches in the VYBK stadium with a full crowd. They will miss the situation but they need to know how important it is for our supporters to win the derby."

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"ATK Mohun Bagan have one of the best attacking line-ups in the ISL" - SC East Bengal head coach ahead of Kolkata derby

While SC East Bengal are currently the bottom-placed side, ATK Mohun Bagan, under new head coach Juan Ferrando, have also been struggling. The Mariners are in eighth spot with 16 points from 10 games.

Rivera opened up about the threats that ATK Mohun Bagan possesses, and how the Red & Gold Brigade can counter the same.

"ATKMB have one of the best attacking line-ups in the ISL. We have to stop their runs and make sure we don’t give them much space to maneuver against our backline. If we do these two things, we'll have a chance to win," he said.

In response to a query by Sportskeeda about whether ATK Mohun Bagan will be under more pressure given their top four ambitions, Rivera said:

"Yes, they are fighting to be in the top four and they are one of the favorites. I think they'll have more pressure. But in a derby, it's almost the same. They need three points but we also want the points. But for them a draw is not useful to reach the top four."

Going into the Kolkata derby, there's a pretty stark contrast between the two sides in the run-up to the game. While ATK Mohun Bagan still have their top four dreams intact, SC East Bengal are hoping to crawl out of the bottom spot. Asked if SCEB are the underdogs, Rivera said:

"It's not the real situation. Professional players always start to play a match wishing to win. When you are outside of the team, you can feel this way but the players are preparing properly to win the match."

Meanwhile, the gaffer also provided some updates about the availability of SC East Bengal's latest signing Fran Sota for the game.

"The derby comes a little too early for Fran Sota as he was in quarantine for a lot of days and also tested positive for Covid-19. He will not start, although he can play a few minutes towards the latter half of the match," Rivera said.