Mohun Bagan take on East Bengal in the most important derby in ISL history and you can follow it all live right here on ESPN (the live blog will follow a short preview)
East Bengal vs Mohun Bagan. Mohun Bagan vs East Bengal. It’s the match in Indian football — sport, really — and today the stakes are higher than it has ever been in the ISL era. A win here and the title is virtually the victors’ and with the two great rivals tied on 22 points the Salt Lake will be crackling with tension and nervous energy. A draw will favour East Bengal because of their superior goal difference (18 vs 13) and will also bring other teams into play as you can see here — ISL scenarios: What Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and other teams need to win title.
The 2026 vintage of East Bengal, though, are not built to play for draws. The freest scoring team in the league, by far (27 goals vs the 20 of second highest Bagan), Oscar Bruzon’s side will go for it from the off — and history has taught us that so will any side managed by Sergio Lobera, let alone a Lobera-led team who need to win. All that adds up to a heady concoction and the teasing promise of a high-scoring, feisty-as-ever derby that should thrill the neutrals as much as it does the faithful on either side.
Who of the two grand old sides of Indian football will hold their nerve today? Who will take a step that would put them within cuddling distance of the 2025-26 ISL trophy? We’ll find out soon enough.
