2020–21 Bengaluru FC season

During the course of 2019–20 season, Bengaluru FC extended contracts of Juanan, Thongkhosiem Haokip and Edmund Lalrindika.^[1][2][3]At the end of the season, Bengaluru FC extended contracts of Udanta Singh, Erik Paartalu, Dimas Delgado, Ajay Chhetri, Leon Augustine, Roshan Singh and Namgyal Bhutia.^[4][5][6][7]

On 3 June Bengaluru FC announced signing of defender Pratik Chaudhari and club's former goalkeeper Lalthuammawia Ralte. Both the players signed with the club for two seasons.^[8] On 5 June Bengaluru FC announced signing of defenders Joe Zoherliana and Wungngayam Muirang on two year deal.^[9] On 20 June Bengaluru FC announced signing of Brazilian forward Cleiton Silva on one year deal.^[10] In August 2020, Bengaluru signed left back Ajith Kumar from Chennai City F.C. on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee.^[11] On 18 September Bengaluru FC signed midfielder Huidrom Thoi Singh from Reliance Foundation Young Champs.^[12] On 3 October Bengaluru FC announced signing of goalkeeper Lara Sharma for three years.^[13] On 20 October Bengaluru FC announced signing of Spanish defender Fran González and Norwegian striker Kristian Opseth on season long deals.^[14]

Bengaluru FC did not renew the contract of Spanish midfielder Nili as he joined Greek side Levadiakos.^[15] Jamaican striker Kevaughn Frater signed for Israeli club Maccabi Netanya.^[16] Defender Nishu Kumar and goalkeeper Prabhsukhan Singh Gill signed for Kerala Blasters.^[17][18] On 13 September 2020, Spanish striker Manuel Onwu completed the move to Odisha FC after being on the loan the previous season.^[19] Defender Gursimrat Singh Gill signed for Bengaluru United^[20] Brazilian midfielder Raphael Augusto's contract with the club was terminated on mutual agreement, owing to personal reasons.^[21] Bengaluru FC did not renew the contract of Spanish defender Albert Serrán^[22] Defender Sairuat Kima joined Sudeva FC.^[23] Midfielder Eugeneson Lyngdoh and defender Rino Anto joined East Bengal.^[24]

In the winter transfer window, Ajay Chhetri was loaned out to SC East Bengal till the end of the season.^[25]

No.	Position	Player	Previous club	Transfer fee	Date	Ref
4	DF	Pratik Chaudhari	Mumbai City	Free agent	3 June 2020	[8]
28	GK	Lalthuammawia Ralte	East Bengal	Free agent	3 June 2020	[8]
24	DF	Joe Zoherliana	Aizawl	Free agent	5 June 2020	[9]
15	DF	Wungngayam Muirang	Gokulam Kerala	Free agent	5 June 2020	[9]
23	FW	Cleiton Silva	Suphanburi	Free agent	20 June 2020	[10]
19	DF	Ajith Kumar	Chennai City	Undisclosed	22 August 2020	[11]
36	MF	Huidrom Thoi Singh	Reliance Foundation Young Champs	Free agent	18 September 2020	[12]
30	GK	Lara Sharma	ATK	Free agent	3 October 2020	[13]
55	DF	Fran González	Mohun Bagan	Free agent	20 October 2020	[14]
9	FW	Kristian Opseth	Adelaide United	Free agent	20 October 2020	[14]
	MF	Xisco Hernández	Odisha	Free agent	15 January 2021
	DF	Yrondu Musavu-King	Le Mans	Free agent	10 March 2021	[26]

No.	Position	Player	Outgoing club	Date	Fee	Ref
3	DF	Albert Serrán	Montañesa	1 June 2020	Free agent	[22]
4	DF	Sairuat Kima	Sudeva	1 June 2020	Free agent	[23]
13	DF	Rino Anto	East Bengal	1 June 2020	Free agent
7	MF	Eugeneson Lyngdoh	East Bengal	1 June 2020	Free agent	[24]
29	MF	Nili	Levadiakos	9 June 2020	Free agent	[15]
22	DF	Nishu Kumar	Kerala Blasters	22 July 2020	Free agent	[17]
17	FW	Kevaughn Frater	Maccabi Netanya	1 August 2020	Free agent	[16]
31	GK	Prabhsukhan Singh Gill	Kerala Blasters	9 September 2020	Free agent	[18]
9	FW	Manuel Onwu	Odisha	13 September 2020	Free agent	[19]
33	DF	Gursimrat Singh Gill	Bengaluru United	17 September 2020	Free agent	[20]
8	MF	Kean Lewis	Sudeva	9 October 2020	Free agent	[27]
12	MF	Raphael Augusto	Abahani Limited Dhaka	17 October 2020	Free agent	[21]
26	FW	Deshorn Brown	NorthEast United	15 January 2021	Released

No.	Position	Player	Outgoing club	Date	Fee	Ref
13	MF	Ajay Chhetri	East Bengal	15 January 2021	Unknown	[25]

Bengaluru FC started pre-season with a friendly against Hyderabad FC on 7 November 2020 at Dempo SC ground, in Goa. Bengaluru drew the game 1–1 with Wungngayam Muirang scoring the opening goal in first half. Aridane Santana scored from spot to equalise for Hyderabad in second half.^[28]

ATK, who finished runners-up in the league phase of the 2019–20 Indian Super League season, merged with 2019–20 I-League champions Mohun Bagan and qualified automatically to the AFC Cup group stage. Third-placed team in 2019–20 Indian Super League season, Bengaluru FC qualified for 2021 AFC Cup qualifiers. This will be Bengaluru's sixth appearance in the tournament.^[29]

Preliminary round 2

Bengaluru v Tribhuvan Army

14 April 2021 (2021-04-14)	Bengaluru	5–0	Tribhuvan Army	Bambolim
19:30 UTC+5:30	Bheke 51', 65' Chhetri 52' Silva 61', 63'	Stats Report Report		Stadium: GMC Athletic Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Ali Reda (Lebanon) MVP: Rahul Bheke (Bengaluru FC)

Play-off round

Due to the lockdown and travel restrictions in Bangladesh, the AFC Sub-Committee decided that Abahani Limited Dhaka are considered to have withdrawn from the AFC Cup 2021 and awarded the Playoff Stage slot to Eagles FC. Playoff Stage match supposed to be hosted by Bengaluru FC, moved to Maldives, which is hosting Group D matches, where the winner of Playoff will be placed.^[30] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic Play-off round between Bengaluru FC and Eagles FC scheduled for May 2021 postponed to 15 August 2021.

After poor outings during the ongoing season, on 6 January 2021, it was announced that Carles Cuadrat and Bengaluru FC decided to mutually part ways. Naushad Moosa, the assistant coach and the head coach of Bengaluru FC B, was appointed as a caretaker coach.^[31] Soon after the departure of Carles, the fitness coach Mikel Guillen too parted ways with the club.^[32]

As of 26 February 2021

Position	Name
Head coach	Marco Pezzaiuoli
Assistant Coach	Javier Pinillos[33]
Assistant Coach/Reserve team Head Coach	Naushad Moosa
Goalkeeping Coach	Julen Esnaola[33]
Physiotherapist	Senen Alvarez
Team Manager	Rosewall Da Cunha
Video Analyst	Alwin Lawrence
Masseur	Manu Prasad
Kit Boy	Gireesh PM

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		ISL		AFC
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Goalkeepers
1	GK	IND	Gurpreet Singh Sandhu	20	0	19+0	0	1+0	0
28	GK	IND	Lalthuammawia Ralte	1	0	1+0	0	0+0	0
30	GK	IND	Lara Sharma	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
34	GK	IND	Sharon Padattil	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
Defenders
2	DF	IND	Rahul Bheke	16	3	13+2	1	1+0	2
4	DF	IND	Pratik Chaudhari	16	0	10+5	0	0+1	0
5	DF	ESP	Juanan	15	2	14+0	2	1+0	0
10	DF	IND	Harmanjot Khabra	17	0	16+0	0	1+0	0
15	DF	IND	Wungngayam Muirang	2	0	1+1	0	0+0	0
19	DF	IND	Ajith Kumar	9	0	6+2	0	0+1	0
24	DF	IND	Joe Zoherliana	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
25	DF	IND	Namgyal Bhutia	3	0	0+2	0	0+1	0
29	DF	IND	Parag Shrivas	11	0	8+3	0	0+0	0
35	DF	IND	Biswa Kumar Darjee	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
55	DF	ESP	Fran González	18	1	10+8	1	0+0	0
	DF	GAB	Yrondu Musavu-King	1	0	0+0	0	1+0	0
Midfielders
6	MF	AUS	Erik Paartalu	19	2	17+1	2	1+0	0
14	MF	ESP	Dimas Delgado	13	1	10+3	1	0+0	0
22	MF	IND	Ashique Kuruniyan	9	0	7+1	0	1+0	0
27	MF	IND	Suresh Singh Wangjam	20	1	18+1	1	1+0	0
31	MF	IND	Leon Augustine	9	1	2+7	1	0+0	0
32	MF	IND	Roshan Singh	2	0	0+2	0	0+0	0
33	MF	IND	Emanuel Lalchhanchhuaha	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
36	MF	IND	Huidrom Thoi Singh	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
37	MF	IND	Amay Morajkar	8	0	2+6	0	0+0	0
	MF	ESP	Xisco Hernández	6	0	3+3	0	0+0	0
	MF	IND	Damaitphang Lyngdoh	1	0	0+0	0	0+1	0
	MF	IND	Muhammad Inayath	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
Forwards
11	FW	IND	Sunil Chhetri	21	9	20+0	8	1+0	1
17	FW	IND	Edmund Lalrindika	4	0	0+3	0	0+1	0
18	FW	IND	Thongkhosiem Haokip	5	0	0+5	0	0+0	0
21	FW	IND	Udanta Singh	18	1	13+4	1	1+0	0
23	FW	BRA	Cleiton Silva	19	9	18+0	7	1+0	2
	FW	IND	Sivasakthi Narayanan	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	FW	IND	Akashdeep Singh	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
Players transferred out during the season
13	MF	IND	Ajay Chhetri	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
26	FW	JAM	Deshorn Brown	10	0	5+5	0	0+0	0
9	FW	NOR	Kristian Opseth	15	0	8+7	0	0+0	0

Updated: 14 April 2021

Rank	No.	Pos	Nat	Player	ISL	AFC	Total
1	11	FW		Sunil Chhetri	8	1	9
	23	FW		Cleiton Silva	7	2	9
3	2	DF		Rahul Bheke	1	2	3
4	5	DF		Juanan	2	0	2
	6	MF		Erik Paartalu	2	0	2
6	14	MF		Dimas Delgado	1	0	1
	19	MF		Udanta Singh	1	0	1
	27	MF		Suresh Singh Wangjam	1	0	1
	31	MF		Leon Augustine	1	0	1
	55	MF		Fran González	1	0	1
Own goals					1	0	1
Total					26	5	31

Source: soccerway
Updated: 14 April 2021

Rank	No.	Pos	Nat	Player	ISL	AFC	Total
1	1	GK		Gurpreet Singh Sandhu	4	1	5
2	31	GK		Lalthuammawia Ralte	0	0	0
TOTALS					4	1	5

Source: soccerway
Updated: 14 April 2021

Rank	No.	Pos	Nat	Player	ISL		AFC		Total		Notes
1	6	MF		Erik Paartalu	8	0	0	0	8	0	Missed a game, against Mumbai City (4 yellow cards)[34] (5 January 2021) Missed a game, against East Bengal (7 yellow cards)[35] (2 February 2021)
2	10	DF		Harmanjot Khabra	6	0	0	0	6	0	Missed a game, against East Bengal (4 yellow cards)[36] (9 January 2021)
3	4	DF		Pratik Chaudhari	5	0	0	0	5	0	Missed a game, against Mumbai City (4 yellow cards)[37] (15 February 2021)
4	2	DF		Rahul Bheke	4	0	0	0	4	0	Missed a game, against Chennaiyin (4 yellow cards)[38] (5 February 2021)
	22	MF		Ashique Kuruniyan	4	0	0	0	4	0	Missed a game, against Jamshedpur (4 yellow cards)[39] (25 February 2021)
6	5	DF		Juanan	3	0	0	0	3	0
	11	FW		Sunil Chhetri	3	0	0	0	3	0
	23	FW		Cleiton Silva	3	0	0	0	3	0
	27	MF		Suresh Singh Wangjam	3	0	0	0	3	0
10	14	MF		Dimas Delgado	2	0	0	0	2	0
	15	DF		Wungngayam Muirang	2	0	0	0	2	0
	19	DF		Ajith Kumar	2	0	0	0	2	0
	29	DF		Parag Shrivas	2	0	0	0	2	0
	55	DF		Fran González	2	0	0	0	2	0
15	1	GK		Gurpreet Singh Sandhu	1	0	0	0	1	0
	17	FW		Edmund Lalrindika	1	0	0	0	1	0

Source: soccerway
Updated: 14 April 2021

• 2020–21 in Indian football