# 2019–20 Bengaluru FC season

The 2019–20 season was the Bengaluru FC's seventh season as club since its establishment in 2013.

## Background
### Transfers

In May 2019, Bengaluru FC signed goal keeper Prabhsukhan Singh Gill and midfielder Suresh Singh Wangjam from Indian Arrows. Bengaluru also signed a contract extension with Kean Lewis, Dimas Delgado and Albert Serrán. Midfielder Eugeneson Lyngdoh returned to Bengaluru FC for a one-year deal. On 17 July Bengaluru FC announced signing of Spanish forward Manuel Onwu Bengaluru FC announced signing of Brazilian midfielder Raphael Augusto on two year deal. On 27 August Bengaluru FC announced signing of India international midfielder Ashique Kuruniyan on four year deal from FC Pune City for undisclosed transfer fee. In the mid season transfer window, Bengaluru FC signed Jamaican striker Deshorn Brown as seventh foreigner. Brown signed for one and half year, will keep him with the club till the end of the 2020-21 season. On 28 January Bengaluru FC announced signing of spanish winger Nili Perdomo till end of the season. He replaced striker Manuel Onwu On 12 February Bengaluru FC announced signing of Jamaican striker Kevaughn Frater in place of injured Raphael Augusto on short term deal.
On 4 June Bengaluru FC announced transfer of midfielder Boithang Haokip to East Bengal for undisclosed fee. Spanish midfielder Xisco Hernández signed for Delhi Dynamos. Venezuelan striker Miku ended his two year stint with the club. Midfielder Myron Mendes signed for Gokulam Kerala. Goalkeeper Soram Poirei signed for NorthEast United. Midfielder Bidyananda Singh signed for Mumbai City FC. Robinson Singh and Asheer Akhtar who were promoted from reserves team to the senior team, joined TRAU F.C. and East Bengal F.C. respectively. Foreign players Álex Barrera, Chencho Gyeltshen, and Luisma were also released.
In the winter transfer window, Ajay Chhetri was loaned out to Hyderabad FC till the end of the season. Edmund Lalrindika was given two years contract extension and loaned out to I-League side East Bengal F.C. till the end of the season. Striker Manuel Onwu was loaned out to Odisha FC till the end of the season.

#### In

| No. | Position | Player | Previous club | Transfer fee | Date |
| 31 | GK | Prabhsukhan Singh Gill | Indian Arrows | Free agent | 13 May 2019 |
| 27 | MF | Suresh Singh Wangjam | Indian Arrows | Free agent | 13 May 2019 |
| 7 | MF | Eugeneson Lyngdoh | ATK | Free agent | 17 June 2019 |
| 9 | FW | Manuel Onwu | UCAM Murcia | Free agent | 17 July 2019 |
| 12 | MF | Raphael Augusto | Chennaiyin | Free agent | 24 August 2019 |
| 19 | MF | Ashique Kuruniyan | Pune City | Undisclosed | 27 August 2019 |
| 26 | FW | Deshorn Brown | Oklahoma City | Free agent | 1 January 2020 |
| 29 | MF | Nili Perdomo | Platanias | Free agent | 28 January 2020 |
| 17 | FW | Kevaughn Frater | New Mexico United | Free agent | 12 February 2020 |

#### Out

| No. | Position | Player | Outgoing club | Date | Fee |
| 7 | FW | Miku | Omonia Nicosia | 1 June 2019 | Free agent |
| 9 | MF | Luisma | Sestao | 1 June 2019 | Free agent |
| 15 | MF | Bidyananda Singh | Mumbai City | 1 June 2019 | Free agent |
| 16 | MF | Myron Mendes | Gokulam Kerala | 1 June 2019 | Free agent |
| 19 | MF | Xisco Hernández | Delhi Dynamos | 1 June 2019 | Free agent |
| 23 | GK | Soram Poirei | NorthEast United | 1 June 2019 | Free agent |
| 24 | MF | Álex Barrera | Barakaldo | 1 June 2019 | Free agent |
| 26 | DF | Asheer Akhtar | East Bengal | 1 June 2019 | Free agent |
| 27 | FW | Chencho Gyeltshen | Paro | 1 June 2019 | Free agent |
| 38 | MF | Robinson Singh | TRAU | 1 June 2019 | Free agent |
| 17 | MF | Boithang Haokip | East Bengal | 4 June 2019 | Unknown |

#### Out on loan

| No. | Position | Player | Outgoing club | Date | Fee |
| 25 | MF | Ajay Chhetri | Hyderabad | 7 January 2020 | Unknown |
| 37 | FW | Edmund Lalrindika | East Bengal | 14 January 2020 | Unknown |
| 9 | FW | Manuel Onwu | Odisha | 28 January 2020 | Unknown |

## Pre-season and friendlies

Bengaluru FC started pre-season with a friendly against I-League club Churchill Brothers on 27 September 2019 at Bellary. Bengaluru won the game 3–1 with Erik Paartalu scoring the opening goal and Ajay Chhetri scoring a brace in the second half. Playing the next friendly against Gokulam Kerala, Bengaluru were handed 1–3 defeat, with Kean Lewis scoring the solitary goal. In the final phase of pre-season, Bengaluru played two games against Minerva Punjab F.C., winning the first 1–0 with a goal from Thongkhosiem Haokip, and losing the second by the same margin.

## Competitions
### Indian Super League
#### Table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Goa (L) | 18 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 46 | 23 | +23 | 39 | Qualification for 2021 AFC Champions League group stage and ISL playoffs |
| 2 | ATK (C) | 18 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 33 | 16 | +17 | 34 | Advance to ISL playoffs |
| 3 | Bengaluru | 18 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 22 | 13 | +9 | 30 | Qualification for 2021 AFC Cup play-off round and ISL playoffs |
| 4 | Chennaiyin | 18 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 32 | 26 | +6 | 29 | Advance to ISL playoffs |
| 5 | Mumbai City | 18 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 25 | 29 | −4 | 26 | |
* ^ Note 1: Originally, Mohun Bagan, the 2019–20 I-League champions (they were already assured of the title before the league was abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic in India), would qualify as India 2 (2021 AFC Cup group stage), and ATK, the 2019–20 Indian Super League playoffs winners, would qualify as India 3 (2021 AFC Cup qualifying play-offs). However, ATK owners KGSPL ceased their football operation and bought majority stakes in Mohun Bagan FC (India) Private Limited and rebranded Mohun Bagan football team as ATK Mohun Bagan FC from the 2020–21 Indian Super League season which qualified as India 2 in 2021 AFC club competition. The All India Football Federation decided that Bengaluru FC, the 2019–20 Indian Super League regular season 3rd place (behind FC Goa, which qualified for the 2021 AFC Champions League, and ATK), will qualify as India 3.

#### Results by matchday

| Matchday | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| Ground | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | A | H |
| Result | D | D | D | W | W | D | W | L | W | L | W | W | L | W | W | D | L | D |
| Position | 2 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 |

### AFC Cup

As the winner of 2018–19 Indian Super League season, Bengaluru FC qualified for 2020 AFC Cup qualifiers. This will be Bengaluru's fifth appearance in the tournament after missing out in 2019.

#### Qualifying play-offs

Bengaluru FC faced Paro FC from Bhutan in preliminary round and won 10–1 on aggregate to advance for playoff round. In playoff round Bengaluru FC faced Maziya S&RC from Maldives, but failed to advance after losing out on penalties.

##### Playoff

4–4 on aggregate. Maziya won 4–3 on penalties.

## Coaching Staff
### Management

Carles Cuadrat extended his contract for two years with the club after the successful 2018–19 season.
    As of 30 January 2020
| Position | Name |
| Head coach | Carles Cuadrat |
| Assistant coach | Javier Pinillos |
| Assistant coach/ Head Coach (reserve team) | Naushad Moosa |
| Goalkeeping coach | Julen Esnaola |
| Fitness coach | Mikel Guillén |

## Player statistics
### Appearances and goals

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | ISL | ISL | AFC | AFC |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||
| 1 | GK | IND | Gurpreet Singh Sandhu | 22 | 0 | 19+0 | 0 | 3+0 | 0 |
| 31 | GK | IND | Prabhsukhan Singh Gill | 2 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 32 | GK | IND | Aditya Patra | 0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| Defenders ||||||||||
| 2 | DF | IND | Rahul Bheke | 17 | 1 | 14+2 | 1 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | ESP | Albert Serrán | 17 | 1 | 16+1 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | IND | Sairuat Kima | 1 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | ESP | Juanan | 22 | 2 | 18+0 | 1 | 4+0 | 1 |
| 10 | DF | IND | Harmanjot Khabra | 22 | 0 | 19+0 | 0 | 3+0 | 0 |
| 13 | DF | IND | Rino Anto | 2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 22 | DF | IND | Nishu Kumar | 20 | 1 | 17+1 | 1 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 28 | DF | IND | Parag Shrivas | 3 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| 33 | DF | IND | Gursimrat Singh Gill | 5 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 3+0 | 0 |
| 43 | DF | IND | Biswa Kumar Darjee | 1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| | DF | IND | Namgyal Bhutia | 0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | DF | IND | Johnson Singh Laishram | 0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||
| 6 | MF | AUS | Erik Paartalu | 21 | 2 | 16+1 | 2 | 4+0 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | IND | Eugeneson Lyngdoh | 5 | 0 | 0+5 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | IND | Kean Lewis | 8 | 0 | 0+5 | 0 | 3+0 | 0 |
| 12 | MF | BRA | Raphael Augusto | 9 | 0 | 9+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | ESP | Dimas Delgado | 20 | 1 | 20+0 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 27 | MF | IND | Suresh Singh Wangjam | 15 | 0 | 7+5 | 0 | 3+0 | 0 |
| 29 | MF | ESP | Nili Perdomo | 10 | 2 | 2+4 | 0 | 4+0 | 2 |
| 38 | MF | IND | Leon Augustine | 5 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 |
| | MF | IND | Emmanuel Lalchhanchhuaha | 0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 46 | MF | IND | Amay Morajkar | 1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| Forwards ||||||||||
| 11 | FW | IND | Sunil Chhetri | 19 | 11 | 17+0 | 9 | 0+2 | 2 |
| 17 | FW | JAM | Kevaughn Frater | 4 | 1 | 1+3 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 18 | FW | IND | Thongkhosiem Haokip | 17 | 6 | 1+13 | 1 | 3+0 | 5 |
| 19 | FW | IND | Ashique Kuruniyan | 20 | 1 | 12+5 | 1 | 3+0 | 0 |
| 21 | FW | IND | Udanta Singh | 22 | 1 | 15+4 | 1 | 1+2 | 0 |
| 26 | FW | JAM | Deshorn Brown | 10 | 7 | 6+1 | 3 | 2+1 | 4 |
| 45 | FW | IND | Roshan Singh | 1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| | FW | IND | Advait Shinde | 0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | FW | IND | Sridarth Nongmeikapam | 0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| Players transferred out during the season ||||||||||
| 9 | FW | ESP | Manuel Onwu | 6 | 0 | 5+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 25 | MF | IND | Ajay Chhetri | 0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 37 | FW | IND | Edmund Lalrindika | 2 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
* Source: soccerway
Updated: 8 March 2020

### Top scorers

| Rank | No. | Pos | Nat | Player | ISL | AFC | Total |
| 1 | 11 | FW | | Sunil Chhetri | 9 | 2 | 11 |
| 2 | 26 | FW | | Deshorn Brown | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| 3 | 18 | FW | | Thongkhosiem Haokip | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| 4 | 5 | DF | | Juanan | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | 6 | MF | | Erik Paartalu | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | 29 | MF | | Nili | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 7 | 2 | DF | | Rahul Bheke | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | 3 | DF | | Albert Serrán | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | 14 | MF | | Dimas Delgado | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | 17 | FW | | Kevaughn Frater | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | 19 | FW | | Ashique Kuruniyan | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | 21 | FW | | Udanta Singh | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | 22 | DF | | Nishu Kumar | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | 24 | 14 | 38 |
Source: soccerway Updated: 8 March 2020

### Clean sheets

| Rank | No. | Pos | Nat | Player | ISL | AFC | Total |
| 1 | 1 | GK | | Gurpreet Singh Sandhu | 11 | 1 | 12 |
| 2 | 31 | GK | | Prabhsukhan Singh Gill | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | 11 | 1 | 12 |
Source: soccerway Updated: 8 March 2020

### Disciplinary record

| Rank | No. | Pos | Nat | Player | ISL | ISL | AFC | AFC | Total | Total | Notes |
| 1 | 10 | DF | | Harmanjot Khabra | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 | Missed a game, against Chennaiyin (4 yellow cards) (9 February 2020) Missed a game, against Maziya (2 yellow cards) (26 February 2020) |
| 2 | 5 | DF | | Juanan | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | Missed a game, against Kerala Blasters (4 yellow cards) (15 February 2020) |
| 2 | 11 | FW | | Sunil Chhetri | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | Missed a game, against Kerala Blasters (4 yellow cards) (15 February 2020) |
| 2 | 19 | MF | | Ashique Kuruniyan | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
| 5 | 22 | DF | | Nishu Kumar | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | |
| 6 | 3 | DF | | Albert Serrán | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| 6 | 6 | MF | | Erik Paartalu | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| 6 | 14 | MF | | Dimas Delgado | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| 6 | 26 | FW | | Deshorn Brown | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| 6 | 27 | MF | | Suresh Singh Wangjam | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | Missed a game, against Maziya (2 yellow cards) (19 February 2020) |
| 6 | 29 | MF | | Nili | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| 12 | 12 | MF | | Raphael Augusto | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| 13 | 7 | MF | | Eugeneson Lyngdoh | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 13 | 17 | FW | | Kevaughn Frater | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 13 | 21 | FW | | Udanta Singh | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 13 | 33 | DF | | Gursimrat Singh Gill | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | 40 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 49 | 1 | |
Source: soccerway Updated: 8 March 2020

## Awards
### Player of the Month award

Awarded monthly to the player that was chosen by fan voting
| Month | Player | Votes |
| October | Raphael Augusto | 39% |
| November | Sunil Chhetri | 44% |
| December | Dimas Delgado | 50% |
| January | Erik Paartalu | 64% |
| February | Thongkhosiem Haokip | 56% |