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The schedule for the Indian Super League (ISL) side Mumbai City FC in the 2023 season of the AFC Champions League was announced on August 25, Friday. In the tournament, which is set to take place on September 18, Mumbai City FC will begin their campaign on the same day against Iran’s FC Nassaji Mazandaran at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune.
Mumbai City FC were placed in Group D on the group stage in the draws announced on August 24 in Kuala Lumpur. After opening their campaign against the Iranian side, Mumbai will travel to Namangan to take on Navbahor on October 3 and later to Riyadh to lock horns with Al Hilal on October 23.
In their last group stage match, the Islanders will go head-to-head against Navbahor, on December 4. It is to be noted that this is a mega-continental tournament. In the 2022-2023 season, Mumbai secured the ISL League Shield and beat 2021-22 ISL Shield Winners Jamshedpur FC to make it to the playoffs.
After the draws on Thursday, August 24, Mumbai’s manager Des Buckingham said “We’re looking forward to giving a good account of ourselves against the likes of Al Hilal, Nassaji and Navbahor – some of the best clubs in Asia – and represent not just Mumbai but Indian football as a whole in the best way possible.”
The forthcoming season of the tournament is going to be an exciting affair for many reasons. This will be the second time that Video Assistant Referee (VAR) will be used in India. VAR is a match official, which is meant to assist the match referee in the event of a ‘clear and obvious error’. Notably, Mumbai City FC ended second in Group B in their maiden season of the tournament.
