Bashundhara Kings are set to kick off their AFC Cup 2023 campaign away in the Maldives when the Bangladesh Premier League champions face hosts Maziya at National Football Stadium in Male Tuesday afternoon.
The club have been showing consistency and supremacy in domestic football by claiming the premier league title four times in a row since their debut in the top-flight, a feat achieved by no other club before in the independent country.
They also made it to the Asian Champions League qualifiers but could not overcome big-budget United Arab Emirates champions Sharjah away on August 15 to return straight to the AFC Cup group stage.
After concluding the BPL campaign with 55 points from 20 matches, Kings had no competitive match except the lone Sharjah tie in the last one and a half months.
The key local players were only involved in two FIFA friendlies of the national team against Afghanistan while the rest, including the overseas booters, had no official match experience during this period.
On the eve of their opening fixture of the continental competition, Oscar Bruzon, the Spanish head coach of the Kings, told Dhaka Tribune, “AFC games are always tough and decided by small details so we are deeply, fully focused and eager to deliver a great performance in order to collect the first points of the competition at this first away game.
“We will give continuity to the game idea we used on the last part of the BPL and also against Sharjah. Our rival have the home advantage, a good batch of young and senior players and the best Maldives national team performers so we have to deliver at our best to grab the first points.”
Maziya played their last premier league match on August 23 against third-placed Super United Sports when the reigning Maldives champions won 3-0 to sit second in the table, only a point behind the leaders Eagles who have a game in hand.
The match between Kings and Maziya kicks off at 4pm and scheduled to be telecasted live on T Sports.
