Mumbai City FC have been drawn alongside the competition's most successful ever club Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia, Iran's FC Nassaji Mazandaran and Uzbekistan's Navbahor in Group D of the 2023-24 AFC Champions League, which begins on September 19.
ACL West Region groups:
Group A - Pakhtakor, Al Fayha, Ahal FC, Al Ain FC
Group B - Al Sadd, FC Nasaf, Al Faisaly, Sharjah FC
Group C - Al Ittihad, Sepahan SC, Air Force Club, AGMK FC
Group D - Al Hilal, FC Nassaji Mazandaran, Mumbai City, Navbahor
Group E - Persepolis, Al Duhail SC, FC Istiklol, Al Nassr
Note: VAR will be in play from the group stages of the competition. It's the first edition of the ACL where the new foreigner rule (an increase of six from four) will be applicable
Who are Mumbai's opponents?
Al Hilal: the losing finalists of the last edition of the Champions League, Al Hilal are the most successful club in the history of the competition, having won it four times (1991, 2000, 2019, 2021). Their five runners-up finishes are also a record. They are the dominant force of Saudi Arabian football, having won the domestic league a record 18 times and the King Cup 10 times. They have also finished runners-up in the FIFA Club World Cup once, in 2022.
They have now further strengthened in this summer of heavy spending by the Saudi clubs by adding the likes of Neymar Jr., Kalidou Koulibaly, Yassine Bounou, Ruben Neves, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, and Aleksander Mitrovic to their squad this season. This adds to their strong domestic contingent which includes Salem Al-Dawsari, Saleh Al-Shehri (both of whom scored against Argentina in the 2022 World Cup) and Salman Faraj.
FC Nassaji Mazandaran: the team finished 12th in the Pro League but qualified for the ACL by virtue of winning the Hazfi Cup - the first major piece of silverware in their history. The team have an all-Iranian playing squad, with the exception of Iraqi centre-forward Alaa Abbas. They are making their ACL debut.
PFC Navbahor Namangan: Navbahor, who finished runners-up in the Uzbek league last season, have won it only once before (1996). The club have had more success in the Uzbek Cup, which they have won thrice (most recently in 1998). They made it to the ACL proper after a 1-0 (in extra time) win over Qatar's Al Wakrah in their playoff.
What are Mumbai City's chances?
Des Buckingham's side, who will play their home games at the Balewadi Stadium in Pune, begin as underdogs in the group, and will need to be at their best, and then some, to replicate their last edition's haul of seven points and second place in the group.
Coach Buckingham said it was another opportunity for his side to represent India and show the progress they had made as a club. "Obviously, it could be the last Indian direct entry in this competition for a while," Buckingham told ESPN, "So we want to showcase the type of football that we can play at that level." The last time that Mumbai City were in the competition, they played in a centralized venue (Riyadh), so they face another challenge this time.
"It's going to be very different to the last time we played in the Champions League. We were in Riyadh in a bubble last time. This time it's home and away, it's going to sandwiched between ISL games as well," Buckingham said.
"Last time we went there, we weren't sure what the results would be," captain Rahul Bheke told ESPN. "But we got two wins, so this year we are all very excited and we are preparing well. We have to do better than the last time we played the AFC Champions League. Our focus is on ourselves, so we will try our best to go into the next round," Bheke said.
Discussions ongoing with AIFF about releasing players for Asian Games
Three Mumbai City players - Lalengmawia Ralte, Akash Mishra and Vikram Partap Singh - have been named in India's squad for the Asian Games in Hangzhou, which potentially clashes with the dates for the club's opening two Champions League games. Buckingham said that the club are locked in discussions with the AIFF, since those dates come outside of the FIFA window for international football.
"We have been supportive of releasing players outside of the FIFA windows, we've released them for around 90 days since I've been here," Buckingham said.
"We don't have a decision yet, we are in discussions, but we are very much gearing up to make sure we have our strongest squad possible for both the ACL and the start of the ISL," he added.
Additionally, Bheke and defender Mehtab Singh are with both likely to be named in India's squad for the King's Cup in Thailand, which falls within the FIFA international window. If they do travel to Thailand, they will also only rejoin the team a week before their opening Champions League clash.
"It was very important for me to have been available for pre-season," Bheke said. "If I was away with the national team and joined the team in between pre-season, it would've been difficult for me, because this is where we prepare ourselves physically and tactically."
City and a refusal to change style
Even though Mumbai City don't go into this group as favourites, Buckingham said they wouldn't change the way they played. "We're never going to be a team that sits back and defends," he said. "I was brought in here to put in the way of playing that CFG [City Football Group] demands, so when people say this is a new season and a new start, I say this isn't a new start. It's a continuation of what we've done since I've been here."