New Season, Old Rivalry: East Bengal vs Mohun Bagan Kolkata Derby To Kickstart Durand Cup 2026
Indian Super League champions East Bengal and arch rivals Mohun Bagan Super Giant face each other to kickstart the Durand Cup football tournament and re-ignite the country's oldest rivalry on Saturday.
Indian Super League champions East Bengal and arch rivals Mohun Bagan Super Giant face each other to kickstart the Durand Cup football tournament and re-ignite the country's oldest rivalry on Saturday. The storied Kolkata Derby between the multiple-time champion sides, at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan, will also mark the beginning of the domestic season. In fact, Asia's oldest football tournament could not have picked a bigger fixture as the inaugural match. The Mariners have won the tournament 17 times, the most by any club. But, the Red and Gold Brigade are just one title short at 16 to their name, close enough that every fresh meeting between the two feels like a chance to close the gap or stretch it.
The two sides have met more than 20 times in the tournament, with East Bengal holding a narrow edge. The two century-old clubs have also contested a dozen Durand Cup finals between them, the most recent being in 2004, with East Bengal winning six to Mohun Bagan's four and two shared.
In 2023, Mohun Bagan broke a 23-year wait for the trophy, beating their old rivals 1-0 in the final to claim their 17th title.
East Bengal arrive at the tournament after having ended a long wait for a national league crown (ISL) last season, and that success would give them a boost in the Durand Cup.
Midfielder Jeakson Singh Thounaojam, part of that title-winning group, put it plainly when asked about the mood in the camp under new head coach Antonio Lopez Habas.
"We are getting together as a family, and at the end of last season we achieved our objective. I'm really looking forward to this new season, to achieve the same objective with more determination," he said.
"With the coach, and the trophies he has won, it will be a pleasure for me to play under him, for East Bengal. Obviously, for me, we are the favourite team." Both benches, however, will have unfamiliar figures pacing them. Mohun Bagan Super Giant begin life under Panagiotis Dilmperis, the Greek coach who spent two seasons at Punjab FC before the Mariners came calling. He now inherits a squad several notches richer than the one he left behind, headlined by the arrival of Miguel Figueira Damasceno.
Dilmperis made no attempt to play down the scale of what awaits him.
"Starting with a derby against East Bengal is something that makes me feel excited, because this is the reason why football exists," he said.
"Joining a club like Mohun Bagan, with this fan base, the owner, the history and huge expectations, creates for me not anxiety but big motivation." Figueira's signing has its own significance. Barely a year after arriving in Indian football, the Brazilian midfielder was named the ISL's best player and walked away with the Golden Ball. He was a central figure in East Bengal's title triumph.
Now, he wears the Green and Maroon, and should he take the field on Saturday, it may well be his first taste of just how personal this fixture can feel from the other side of the divide.
The reinforcements up front have arrived too. Dejan Drazic, the Serbian forward brought in to sharpen the forwardline, landed at the city only days ago and has already been given a proper introduction to what he has signed up for.
"For every player, foreigner or Indian, it is amazing to play a game like a derby in Kolkata," he said.
"I was very surprised at the airport, this is the first time that has happened to me, and I am very grateful for that welcome. We are Mohun Bagan, and like everybody, we expect to win this game." Habas, the veteran Spanish tactician, takes charge of the Red and Gold Brigade having previously guided the Mariners to the 2023-24 ISL League Shield, arriving mid-season to steady a wavering campaign and steer it unbeaten to the title.
Asked whether facing his old club stirred any nostalgia, Habas was matter-of-fact about it and said, "No nostalgia. We have to think about the present and the future, because the past is the past." "I absolutely respect my trajectory in India, with my players and the fans. But now it's another job, another side, for professional life. I have to fight for my dream now."
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