East Bengal FC and Mohun Bagan Super Giant will renew Indian football's oldest and fiercest rivalry on Saturday, 26 July, as the 135th Durand Cup gets under way with the Kolkata Derby at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan. Asia's oldest football tournament has handed its opening whistle to the fixture that defines Indian club football — a choice that needs no justification.

The Weight of History

Mohun Bagan Super Giant enter as the tournament's most decorated club, holding 17 Durand Cup titles — a record unmatched in the competition's history. East Bengal FC trail by a single trophy, with 16 to their name, a margin close enough that every meeting between the two carries the charge of a potential record shift. The sides have clashed more than 20 times in the Durand Cup and contested 12 finals between them — the most recent in 2004 — with East Bengal winning six, Mohun Bagan four, and two shared.

It was in this very tournament, in 2023, that Mohun Bagan ended a 23-year wait for the trophy, beating East Bengal 1-0 in the final to claim that record-extending 17th title. That result still echoes in both dressing rooms.

East Bengal's New Ambition Under Habas

The Red and Gold Brigade arrive as defending Indian Super League (ISL) champions, having ended a long wait for a national league crown last season — and that confidence travels into the Durand Cup. Head coach Antonio Lopez Habas, the veteran Spanish tactician, takes charge of East Bengal having previously guided Mohun Bagan to the 2023-24 ISL League Shield. The symmetry is striking: a man returning to the ground of his old triumph, now tasked with spoiling it for the side that currently owns it.

Habas was unsentimentally direct when asked about facing his former club. 'No nostalgia. We have to think about the present and the future, because the past is the past,' he said. '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.'

Midfielder Jeakson Singh Thounaojam, part of the ISL title-winning squad, reflected the camp's mood ahead of the derby. '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.'

Mohun Bagan's New Era Under Dilmperis

The Mariners begin a new chapter under Panagiotis Dilmperis, the Greek coach who spent two quietly impressive seasons at Punjab FC before Mohun Bagan came calling. He inherits a considerably stronger squad, headlined by the marquee arrival of Miguel Figueira Damasceno — the Brazilian midfielder who won the ISL Golden Ball as best player last season while playing a central role in East Bengal's title triumph. Should Figueira take the field on Saturday, it will be his first experience of this fixture from the other side of the divide.

Serbian forward Dejan Drazic, signed to sharpen Mohun Bagan's attack, arrived in the city only days ago and has already been given a vivid introduction to what he has joined. '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.'

Dilmperis himself embraced the scale of the occasion. '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.'

Recent Form and What Is at Stake

History alone does not determine the mood heading into Saturday. This time last year, East Bengal held the upper hand in this fixture, edging past Mohun Bagan in a tightly contested Durand Cup quarter-final at the same stadium — a result that underlines how competitive the recent head-to-head record has been. The Yuba Bharati Krirangan has hosted the Durand Cup's Kolkata leg since 2019 and has witnessed this fixture before, but an opening match carries its own particular charge.

Saturday's derby will not settle the argument between these two clubs — it never really does. But it will set the tone for the 135th edition of Asia's oldest football trophy, and there is no more fitting stage for that than under the lights of Kolkata.