Coach Habas' goal is to strike a balance in ATK

Having guided ATK to a title triumph five years ago, coach Antonio Lopez Habas on Thursday said his primary focus now is to build a balanced team after he returned to his old franchise for the sixth season of the Indian Super League.

Under the Spaniard, then Atletico de Kolkata won the inaugural title in 2014 and made the last-four the following year.

Former Spanish international goalkeeper Jose Molina took charge in the third season and the Kolkata franchise put up a dominant display to win their second title -- a record they jointly hold with Chennaiyin FC in the five-year-old history of the league.

But after the severed partnership with Atletico Madrid who looked after the technical affairs but did not invest anything in the club, ATK's performance nosedived, finishing ninth and sixth in the last two seasons.

To revive their fortunes, the Sanjiv Goenka-owned side finally decided to get back Habas.

"The magic word in football is (to achieve) balance. The idea is to score goals and not concede any -- this is balance. My prinicipal goal is to build a competitive team, both in the attack and defence," said Habas, who is in his second stint as ATK head coach.

"My plan is to enjoy with the team and the city. We have put in a lot of hard work to build a competitive team. I'm very happy to be here again for another season. I'm excited for the season to start."
"The remaining 15 days is very, very important for us. Now is the moment. The players will have to adapt to the different cities, conditions, climate and everything."