Kerala Blasters take on Girona FC in the final match of Toyota Yaris La Liga World tournament at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi, Kerala on Saturday, July 28.
When does the match start and how to watch it live
The pre-season tie starts at 7 pm local time, 2:30 pm BST and 1:30 pm GMT.
Star Sports 2 and Star Sports 2 HD will provide live television coverage of the match in India. The live stream will be available on Hotstar.
Blasters vs Girona preview
There was quite a lot of hype around Blasters' tie against Melbourne City FC earlier this week as it was the opening match of the first pre-season international friendly tournament organised in the country.
However, all the enthusiasm turned into disappointed after David James' men conceded half-a-dozen goals to the A-League side in front of their home crowd on Tuesday. After what was a poor season in 2017 where they finished sixth in the league and were booted out in the Super Cup as early as in the first round, the start was not what ardent Blasters' fans were expecting.
The Blasters will be up against a much stronger opponent in last season's La Liga debutants. The Spanish side are heading into the match on the back of decimating Melbourne City 6-0 yesterday.
While the visitors will be hoping to ascertain their dominance yet again later today, Blasters will be hoping to put up a better show in front of their vocal fans.
It will be interesting to see how the much-talked-about Indian center-back pairing of Sandesh Jhingan and Anas Edathodika perform against the class of Girona forwards. New signing Cyril Kali of France will also be available as the focus will be on the Blasters' backline.
Blasters to remain free of pressure
Coach James though has insisted that the Blasters won't be putting any pressure on themselves and will relish the opportunity of playing against a top side of Girona's quality.
"We will not want to put any sort of pressure on us by thinking about our opponents, we are here to play some good competitive football and entertain the home crowd. It will be a great learning for all the young players from our team to face a top-tier European club like Girona," James was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India.
"We have added some young players to our squad for the season. They are training hard and taking this tournament very seriously. Not on all days do we get to play against two big international teams like Melbourne City FC and Girona FC."
On the other hand, Girona defender Bernardo Espinosa of Colombia has said their side will ruthless but at the same time respect their opposition.
"We will go out to enjoy against Kerala Blasters. We will play with respect. We will try to score as many goals as possible, but always with respect. And enjoy it with them. Because for the Kerala Blasters, playing against us is a big game," Espinosa told The Week.
Kerala Blasters vs Girona FC: Global live stream and TV listings
- Spain: beIN Sports Connect, Movistar+
- United States: beIN Sports, fuboTV
