India, March 4 -- East Bengal and FK Arkadag meet here on Wednesday in the AFC Challenge League with the clubs being at different ends of a season. The visiting team from Turkmenistan are starting a fresh term with this double-leg quarter-final of Asia's tier three competition while East Bengal are stuck mid-table, one match from the end of another Indian Super League (ISL) campaign.

Having lost to Altyn Asyr in the qualifier of the Asian Champions League 2 last August, East Bengal know the pitfalls of playing a knockout match early in the season. Altyn Asyr, also from Turkmenistan, were in mid-season then and the difference between the teams showed in the 2-3 defeat that sent East Bengal to this competition. One of the players in that m...