Kerala Blasters host Punjab FC in their opening match of the 2024-25 Indian Super League season at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi. Both teams come into this season with new managers on the touchlines and face a reboot in their quest to vie for silverware.
For the Blasters, the big news ahead of the 2024-25 campaign was the departure of Ivan Vukomanovic. The iconic coach was replaced by Mikael Stahre, with the Swede aiming to go one better than his predecessor and win a long-awaited trophy for KBFC.
Punjab FC, meanwhile, raised eyebrows by letting go of Staikos Vergetis, who led the club to the I-League title in 2022-23 that earned them promotion and then finished a creditable 8th in the 2023-24 ISL season, just three points behind a playoff spot. The club have appointed Greek coach Panagiotis Dilmperis, with this the 49-year-old’s first appointment in Asia.
Given the new men in charge, there obviously have been plenty of changes to both squads.
The Blasters lost top-scorer Dimitrios Diamantakos in the summer but have an able replacement in Jesus Jimenez as a striking option. Noah Sadaoui also makes up for the departure of Daisuke Sakai, while Alexandre Coeff replaces former captain Marko Leskovic at the back. Stahre will hope that Vibin Mohanan continues his excellent form in midfield, which saw Jeakson Singh displaced and eventually dispensed with.
Of course, it all centres around Adrian Luna for the Blasters, who will hope that he can combine with Sadaoui, Kwame Peprah and Jimenez to ensure the Manjappada have plenty of goals, and thereby wins, to celebrate.
Punjab have seen a whole host of crucial players depart, including the likes of Madih Talal, Juan Mera, Wilmar Jordan Gil, Sahil Tavora and Amarjit Singh. However, the club has bolstered their options with four new foreign signings – Mushaga Bakenga of Norway and Ezequiel Vidal of Argentina in attack, Filip Mrzljak in midfield and fellow Croat Ivan Novoselec in defence. Vinit Rai also comes in to bolster the midfield along with a host of young Indian signings.
Luka Macjen still remains with Punjab and ought to be their main hope for goals this season, with the experienced Slovenian aiming to be top-scorer for the club once more. Dilmperis has his work cut out however, with many predicting that Punjab will be towards the bottom of the table given the lack of quality in their Indian contingent.
What they said
Mikael Stahre, head coach of Kerala Blasters
“They are a very eager group, always ready to put in maximum effort. We have a good mixture of youth and experience and also foreign players. But all of them have a huge drive, they want to improve themselves, and they want to achieve something for this club,”
Panagiotis Dilmperis, head coach of Punjab FC:
“Punjab FC are moving forward every year. They are taking quality steps forward and everyone at the club including the director (Nikolaos Topoliatis) is focused on quality more than quantity. This is a great challenge for me because for this season we have to do one step better than last season. The previous season was also good, especially in the second half.”
