Habas: "Difference was Al-Seeb scored and we didn't" after East Bengal 0-2 home loss in ACL Two

East Bengal FC lost 0-2 to Al-Seeb at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata in their 2026-27 AFC Champions League Two Group D match on 2026-11-04, and head coach Antonio López Habas addressed the media at the post-match press conference.

Habas said the final score did not reflect how the match unfolded and congratulated his players for their efforts. "I have to congratulate my players for their efforts because I don’t think the scoreline reflects the actual difference between the two teams. I think East Bengal deserved to score three or four goals from the chances we created and win the match," he said.

The coach described East Bengal as the side that controlled most of the game and emphasised the team created multiple openings. "Until the 75th or 80th minute, the opposition hardly had any clear goal-scoring opportunities. We had six or seven chances but failed to score. I think East Bengal played better than the opposition today. The difference was simply that one team scored and the other didn’t," he added.

Habas declined to attribute the loss to luck and pointed to an early injury that forced a tactical change. "This is my conclusion from the match. I don’t want to talk about bad luck today. We suffered an injury to Anwar in the first 15 minutes, and we had to make a substitution and modify our defensive line." He later said: "After that, I don’t have any excuses for losing the match. When you continuously look to score, you inevitably give the opposition opportunities to counter-attack. That is what happened in this game."

Addressing specific incidents in the contest, Habas referenced a possible penalty and the team’s failure to finish chances. "Perhaps there was also a penalty situation, but it is difficult to explain everything about the match today. We had to take our chances in the first half, but we failed to score. Sometimes you score five goals, and on other occasions, you create several chances but cannot find the net," he said.

When questioned about Indian players' readiness for continental competition, Habas rejected the premise and reiterated his view on the match outcome. "Absolutely not. However, there are teams that participate in this competition every year, and some have been playing in it for many years. You have to understand that." He added: "The explanation for today’s result is simple. We failed to score despite creating chances. The problem in some matches has been that we haven’t created enough opportunities, but today we had five or six very clear chances and couldn’t convert them."

Habas also dismissed the idea that foreign-player availability was the determining factor, called for balance in response to results, and named the club’s immediate objective. "We can never know whether that was the problem or not. I am very clear about what the actual problem was. We dominated the match and played very well, but we didn’t score. We should not become too euphoric when we win matches or too pessimistic when we lose. We have to find a balance and continue with our competition. Our idea is to win the next match, and we will try to achieve that against our next opponent," he said. Al-Seeb’s goals were scored by Alex Meye and Al Aghbari.

Habas outlined short-term recovery and squad management plans ahead of their next fixture in Chennai, noting injury monitoring and limited preparation time. "Now we have to recover as a team. We have only one training session before travelling to Chennai for another match. The players are tired, but most importantly, we have to regain our mental strength," he said, and added: "I have to assess the situation and manage the team according to the matches. After Chennai, we will have a day off followed by five or six days to prepare. I have to evaluate the players and continue preparing for the upcoming matches. We will have to make rotations accordingly, he concluded."