ISL Final: Can Antonio Habas outsmart a determined Owen Coyle?

Chennaiyin's turnaround has been nothing short of brilliant and ATK proved they can deal with pressure in the second leg of the semis...

In and Chennaiyin, the sixth season of (ISL) has had two phenomenally balanced teams fight their way to the grand finale.

These two are the two most successful teams in the tournament as both teams have two titles each to their name. However, their journeys this season have been starkly different.

ATK brought back their fan-favourite title-winner Antonio Habas to lead a fresh project at ATK. Having clinched the title once in his previous stint and with a supply of a huge transfer chest, the expectations were high and Habas is one step away from meeting them.

Chennaiyin on the other hand, stuck with their 2018 league-winner John Gregory despite a bottom-placed finish last season. Their decision to trust the head coach who had helped them to the title in the 2017-18 season did not pay off.

Without a big splash in the transfer market, Gregory failed to replace the departed foreigners and help the new ones settle. They struggled to score goals and conceded easily. It was a mess at Chennaiyin until December when they decided to replace the Englishman with Irish tactician Owen Coyle.

Chennaiyin's nine-match unbeaten run recently came to an end with the semi-final second leg defeat to . But they had done more than enough to progress to the final, an objective that looked impossible on New Year's Eve.

Chennaiyin are brimming with confidence and that's where Habas will have to use his players well. On paper, ATK have some of the best players in the league both in terms of reputation and form. Former Wellington Pheonix duo Roy Krishna and David Williams have set the stage on fire with brilliant final third displays. Javier Hernandez and Edu Garcia have been instrumental in midfield and amongst Indian players, Prabir Das has been the standout performer. But finals are about mentalities.

In their respective title-winning seasons, these two teams were solid at the back and boasted of immense will to fight when put under pressure. Coyle's team has developed such a mentality already. Habas' boys also proved they had it in them to make a comeback in the second leg against Bengaluru despite trailing by two goals on aggregate at one point.

It will be interesting to see how the strategies pan out. We're in for a good show in Goa.