Antonio Habas confident as East Bengal prepare for must-win Al-Seeb tie in AFC Champions League Two
East Bengal FC will seek their first victory of the 2026-27 AFC Champions League Two when they host Al-Seeb at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan on Tuesday, 3 November 2026, with head coach Antonio López Habas and captain Mohammed Rashid speaking to the media ahead of the game.
East Bengal head into the match knowing victory is essential if they are serious about finishing in the top two of their group; the club cannot afford draws or defeats in any of their next three continental fixtures. The immediate objective from Habas’ perspective is to beat Al-Seeb at Salt Lake Stadium to secure the team’s first win in the competition and build confidence before tougher games against Al-Hussein at home and Al-Shorta away.
Habas described his squad’s physical readiness while also stressing limited training time: “We are doing our best to prepare for this match. I like the condition of the squad and the players’ physicality. We have to train more.” He added that the team has had only two training sessions—one for recovery and one for tactical work—and that this short routine has been their pattern over the last month: “We don’t have the opportunity to train more.”
On squad management and rotation, Habas warned against excessive changes and said selection will follow players’ form and fitness: “Now, evidently, I don’t want to rotate more than 70% of the team. In my experience, when you make five, six or seven changes to the starting lineup, there is a risk that the team won’t perform as expected.” He also stressed equality across the squad: “There is no distinction between foreign and Indian players. We have very good Indian players now, and we have to respect the situation of every player.” He referenced foreign recruits Lucas Loba and Ikonomidis, adding: “Now, the team is practically complete and organised.”
Habas pinpointed finishing and technical precision as areas requiring improvement, saying East Bengal have created chances but not converted them consistently: “Apart from the last match, I cannot say that we haven’t had good opportunities in the AFC competition. I am sure that the team has created very good scoring opportunities.” He continued, “We need precision. When you have five or six opportunities to score but end up winning 2-1, the problem is precision. And precision comes from quality.” On squad usage he added: “You have to look at the situation from a different perspective. When the competition is very demanding, you need to find a way to manage the squad and give opportunities to one or two players in different positions.”
Captain Mohammed Rashid framed Tuesday’s game as a do-or-die fixture, saying both sides require three points to remain in contention: “Both teams need to get the three points in this game to stay alive in the competition.” He described the squad’s recovery routine and limited training time between matches: “The most important aspects of recovery are sleep and food. To be honest, this is the only way we can recover between these games.” On mentality he said, “Our mentality starts from tomorrow. We don’t look at the next two games after that. It’s just tomorrow for us because tomorrow is really a final.”
Match details for the Al-Seeb game list a 7:15 PM IST kickoff on Tuesday, 3 November at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan, with tickets available via District India and the fixture scheduled to be broadcast live on FanCode.
After facing Al-Seeb, East Bengal will host Al-Hussein and then travel to play Al-Shorta to complete their group-stage fixtures, matches Habas has identified as decisive for the club’s hopes of progressing from the group.