After weeks of heavy duty battles, Durand Cup 2025 now has only four teams standing. East Bengal and North East United are the fancied sides with the latter also the defending champions of the tournament. The other two sides are underdogs, Diamond Harbour and Shillong Lajong but have both shown their tenacity to match up to the 'big dogs'.
Fittingly, it is a 'David vs Goliath' battle in each of the semifinals and we start off with North East United taking on Shillong Lajong in Shilling for the first semifinal. Needless to say, the ISL side is brimming with confidence after the thumping 4-0 win they achieved in the quarterfinal against Bodoland FC. Meanwhile, it was a thrilling win for Shillong in their fixture as they came from a goal down to register a 2-1 win against Indian Navy FT.
Both sides are high on confidence but on paper, North East United are the superior side in terms of resources and experience. However, as they showed in the group stage encounter between the two sides, Shillong Lajong have the ability to surprise. That encounter ended 2-1 in favour of the defending champions who were leading 1-0 till the last ten minutes before Shillong pulled one back, only for North East United to pinch a winner two minutes later.
Shilling have been prolific in attack, netting ten goals during the group stages and conceded just three. They have been compact in defence while also showing intent going forward. North East United are a more technical team who love to maintain their shape during all times but also have the pace and skill in attack to pounce on the slightest opportunity.
Who will prevail in this contest - David or Goliath? Only time will tell but either way, we will have a historic result.